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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Adder \Add"er\, noun [See {Add}.] One who, or that which, adds; esp., a machine for adding numbers.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Adder \Ad"der\, noun [OE. addere, naddere, eddre, AS. n[ae]dre, adder, snake; akin to OS. nadra, OHG. natra, natara, Ger. natter, Goth. nadrs, Icel. na[eth]r, masc., na[eth]ra, fem.: cf. W. neidr, Gorn. naddyr, Ir. nathair, L. natrix, water snake. An adder is for a nadder.]
1. A serpent. [Obs.] ''The eddre seide to the woman.'' --Wyclif. Gen. iii. 4. )
2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A small venomous serpent of the genus {Vipera}. The common European adder is the {Vipera berus} or {Pelias berus}. The puff adders of Africa are species of {Clotho}. (b) In America, the term is commonly applied to several harmless snakes, as the {milk adder}, {puffing adder}, etc. (c) Same as {Sea Adder}.
Note: In the sculptures the appellation is given to several venomous serpents, -- sometimes to the horned viper ({Cerastles}).
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adder
noun
1: a person who adds numbers
2: a machine that adds numbers
3: small terrestrial viper common in northern Eurasia [syn: {common viper}, {Vipera berus}]
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
ADDER, noun A species of snake. So called from its habit of adding funeral outlays to the other expenses of living.
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Adder (Ps. 140:3; Rom. 3:13, "asp") is the rendering of, (1.) Akshub ("coiling" or "lying in wait"), properly an asp or viper, found only in this passage. (2.) Pethen ("twisting"), a viper or venomous serpent identified with the cobra (Naja haje) (Ps. 58:4; 91:13); elsewhere "asp." (3.) Tziphoni ("hissing") (Prov. 23:32); elsewhere rendered "cockatrice," Isa. 11:8; 14:29; 59:5; Jer. 8:17, as it is here in the margin of the Authorized Version. The Revised Version has "basilisk." This may have been the yellow viper, the Daboia xanthina, the largest and most dangerous of the vipers of Palestine. (4.) Shephiphon ("creeping"), occurring only in Gen. 49:17, the small speckled venomous snake, the "horned snake," or cerastes. Dan is compared to this serpent, which springs from its hiding-place on the passer-by.
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