Hellbender

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large, flattened, fully aquatic salamander native to eastern North American streams ; a colloquial term for a fierce or irritable person
2. A giant aquatic amphibian with a wrinkled body that lives in clear rivers of the eastern United States ; a slang word for someone with a volatile, quarrelsome temperament
3. An aquatic salamander of the eastern American waterways that grows quite large ; an informal name for a person given to fits of anger

Etymology: Hellbender is the name of a large, slimy aquatic salamander of eastern North America, a creature that lives under river rocks and can grow to well over two feet long. Its name is usually explained as a compound of "hell" and "bender," though the second element is the more puzzling one. The most likely link is "hell-bent," meaning recklessly determined to go somewhere or do something, which would suggest a creature that stubbornly pushes its way through the current and under stones. The record of the name is thin, and the idea that it grew out of "hell-bent" rests on likelihood rather than documentation. The "hell" part is easy to read as an expression of the animal's grim, sinister look, and the salamander's habit of hiding beneath rocks in dark, fast water may have added to that reputation. Nothing about the name points to a deliberate coinage, so it reads as a folk name that settled on the animal because its appearance and habits seemed to fit a hellish image.

Synonyms: snot otter, waterdog