'Hoop snake' definitions:

Definition of 'hoop snake'

noun

Any of various harmless North American snakes that were formerly believed to take tail in mouth and roll along like a hoop

Definition of 'Hoop snake'

From: GCIDE

Hoop \Hoop\, n. [OE. hope; akin to D. hoep, hoepel.]
1. A pliant strip of wood or metal bent in a circular form, and united at the ends, for holding together the staves of casks, tubs, etc. [1913 Webster]
2. A ring; a circular band; anything resembling a hoop, as the cylinder (cheese hoop) in which the curd is pressed in making cheese. [1913 Webster]
3. A circle, or combination of circles, of thin whalebone, metal, or other elastic material, used for expanding the skirts of ladies' dresses; crinoline; -- used chiefly in the plural. [1913 Webster]
Though stiff with hoops, and armed with ribs of whale. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
4. A quart pot; -- so called because originally bound with hoops, like a barrel. Also, a portion of the contents measured by the distance between the hoops. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
5. An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from one to four pecks. [Eng.] --Halliwell. [1913 Webster]
Bulge hoop, Chine hoop, Quarter hoop, the hoop nearest the middle of a cask, that nearest the end, and the intermediate hoop between these two, respectively.
Flat hoop, a wooden hoop dressed flat on both sides.
Half-round hoop, a wooden hoop left rounding and undressed on the outside.
Hoop iron, iron in thin narrow strips, used for making hoops.
Hoop lock, the fastening for uniting the ends of wooden hoops by notching and interlocking them.
Hoop skirt, a framework of hoops for expanding the skirts of a woman's dress; -- called also hoop petticoat.
Hoop snake (Zool.), a harmless snake of the Southern United States (Abaster erythrogrammus); -- so called from the mistaken notion that it curves itself into a hoop, taking its tail into its mouth, and rolls along with great velocity.
Hoop tree (Bot.), a small West Indian tree ({Melia sempervirens}), of the Mahogany family. [1913 Webster]