"snake in the grass" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "latet anguis in herbā",
        "lit": "a snake hides in the grass"
      },
      "expansion": "Calque of Latin latet anguis in herbā (literally “a snake hides in the grass”)",
      "name": "calque"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "B.C.E.",
      "name": "B.C.E."
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "with an English Translation by H. Rushton Fairclough, Professor of Latin in Stanford University, California: In Two Volumes"
      },
      "expansion": "[…]",
      "name": "nb..."
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "addertje onder het gras"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch addertje onder het gras",
      "name": "noncog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Calque of Latin latet anguis in herbā (literally “a snake hides in the grass”), from Eclogue III by the Roman poet Virgil (traditionally 70 – 19 B.C.E.). Compare Dutch addertje onder het gras.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "snakes in the grass",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "snakes in the grass"
      },
      "expansion": "snake in the grass (plural snakes in the grass)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1973 June, Charlie Daniels (lyrics and music), “Uneasy Rider”, performed by Charlie Daniels, New York, N.Y.: Kama Sutra Records, →OCLC",
          "text": "He's a snake in the grass, I tell you guys / He may look dumb but that's just a disguise / He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1978, John Irving, “The World According to Marcus Aurelius”, in The World According to Garp […] (A Henry Robbins Book), New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton, pages 271–272",
          "text": "We were playing in Dallas, when that snake in the grass—Eight Ball, everyone called him—came up on my blind side …",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 November 21, Bruce Crumley, “Which Woman will Lead France’s Socialists?”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2012-01-16",
          "text": "Following her presidential defeat, [Ségolène] Royal stunned many observers by publicly dumping Socialist Party leader François Hollande – her companion and the father of her four children – and announcing she'd seek his post during the current election. To some, that made Royal the symbol of the strong, modern woman in politics; to others, it cast her as the classic snake in the grass.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A hidden enemy."
      ],
      "id": "en-snake_in_the_grass-en-noun-Old62zaz",
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "hidden",
          "hidden#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "enemy",
          "enemy#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(derogatory, informal) A hidden enemy."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "fifth column"
        },
        {
          "word": "grass snake"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "backstabber"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "informal"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Virgil"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsneɪk ɪn ðə ˈɡɹɑːs/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsneɪk ɪn ðə ˈɡɹæs/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɑːs"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æs"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-snake in the grass.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e7/En-au-snake_in_the_grass.ogg/En-au-snake_in_the_grass.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/En-au-snake_in_the_grass.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "snake in the grass"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "latet anguis in herbā",
        "lit": "a snake hides in the grass"
      },
      "expansion": "Calque of Latin latet anguis in herbā (literally “a snake hides in the grass”)",
      "name": "calque"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "B.C.E.",
      "name": "B.C.E."
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "with an English Translation by H. Rushton Fairclough, Professor of Latin in Stanford University, California: In Two Volumes"
      },
      "expansion": "[…]",
      "name": "nb..."
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "addertje onder het gras"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch addertje onder het gras",
      "name": "noncog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Calque of Latin latet anguis in herbā (literally “a snake hides in the grass”), from Eclogue III by the Roman poet Virgil (traditionally 70 – 19 B.C.E.). Compare Dutch addertje onder het gras.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "snakes in the grass",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "snakes in the grass"
      },
      "expansion": "snake in the grass (plural snakes in the grass)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "fifth column"
    },
    {
      "word": "grass snake"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English derogatory terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms calqued from Latin",
        "English terms derived from Latin",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Rhymes:English/æs",
        "Rhymes:English/æs/4 syllables",
        "Rhymes:English/ɑːs",
        "Rhymes:English/ɑːs/4 syllables",
        "Undetermined terms with quotations",
        "en:People"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1973 June, Charlie Daniels (lyrics and music), “Uneasy Rider”, performed by Charlie Daniels, New York, N.Y.: Kama Sutra Records, →OCLC",
          "text": "He's a snake in the grass, I tell you guys / He may look dumb but that's just a disguise / He's a mastermind in the ways of espionage.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1978, John Irving, “The World According to Marcus Aurelius”, in The World According to Garp […] (A Henry Robbins Book), New York, N.Y.: E[dward] P[ayson] Dutton, pages 271–272",
          "text": "We were playing in Dallas, when that snake in the grass—Eight Ball, everyone called him—came up on my blind side …",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008 November 21, Bruce Crumley, “Which Woman will Lead France’s Socialists?”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2012-01-16",
          "text": "Following her presidential defeat, [Ségolène] Royal stunned many observers by publicly dumping Socialist Party leader François Hollande – her companion and the father of her four children – and announcing she'd seek his post during the current election. To some, that made Royal the symbol of the strong, modern woman in politics; to others, it cast her as the classic snake in the grass.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A hidden enemy."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "hidden",
          "hidden#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "enemy",
          "enemy#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(derogatory, informal) A hidden enemy."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "backstabber"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "derogatory",
        "informal"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Virgil"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsneɪk ɪn ðə ˈɡɹɑːs/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsneɪk ɪn ðə ˈɡɹæs/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɑːs"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æs"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-snake in the grass.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e7/En-au-snake_in_the_grass.ogg/En-au-snake_in_the_grass.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/En-au-snake_in_the_grass.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "snake in the grass"
}