boas meaning

• [Medicine]
  A family of snakes comprising the boas,anacondas,and pythons. They occupy a variety of habitats through the tropics and subtropics and are arboreal,aquatic or fossorial (burrowing). Some are oviparous,others ovoviviparous. Contrary to popular opinion,they do not crush the bones of their victims: their coils exert enough pressure to stop a prey's breathing,thus suffocating it. There are five subfamilies: Boinae,Bolyerinae,Erycinae,Pythoninae,and Tropidophiinae. (Goin,Goin,and Zug,Introduction to Herpetology,3d ed,p315-320)

Examples

1. in matters of finance, monsieur grandet combined the characteristics of the tiger and the boa constrictor.
2. it was that of the boa constrictor from the outside
3. "better wear that boa about your throat to night.
4. i do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor
5. my favorate star is boa ? ( i'm crazy about her