Boa

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Boa \Bo"a\ (b[=o]"[.a]), n.; pl. {Boas}. [L. boa a kind of water
     serpent. Perh. fr. bos an ox.]
     1. (Zool.) A genus of large American serpents, including the
        boa constrictor, the emperor boa of Mexico ({Boa
        imperator}), and the chevalier boa of Peru ({Boa eques}).
        [1913 Webster]


  
     Note: The name is also applied to related genera; as, the
           {dog-headed boa} ({Xiphosoma caninum}).
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A long, round fur tippet; -- so called from its
        resemblance in shape to the boa constrictor.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  boa
       n 1: a long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur [syn: {feather
            boa}]
       2: any of several chiefly tropical constrictors with vestigial
          hind limbs

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  BOA
       Basic Object Adapter
       
       

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  boa [IBM] n. Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the floor in a
     {dinosaur pen}. Possibly so called because they display a ferocious life
     of their own when you try to lay them straight and flat after they have
     been coiled for some time. It is rumored within IBM that channel cables
     for the 370 are limited to 200 feet because beyond that length the boas
     get dangerous -- and it is worth noting that one of the major cable
     makers uses the trademark `Anaconda'.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  boa
       
          [IBM] Any one of the fat cables that lurk under the floor in a
          {dinosaur pen}.  Possibly so called because they display a
          ferocious life of their own when you try to lay them straight
          and flat after they have been coiled for some time.  It is
          rumored within IBM that channel cables for the 370 are limited
          to 200 feet because beyond that length the boas get dangerous
          --- and it is worth noting that one of the major cable makers
          uses the trademark "Anaconda".
       
          [{Jargon File}]