snakehead, n.2
Brit. /ˈsneɪkhɛd/, U.S. /ˈsneɪkˌ(h)ɛd/
[‹ snake n. + head n.1, after Chinese (Mandarin) shétóu, (Cantonese jatoh), lit. ‘snake-head’ < Mandarin shé snake + tóu head, after rén shé smuggled immigrant, lit. ‘human snake’.]
In China: a person who takes money in return for organizing or facilitating the illegal immigration of Chinese nationals into another country, esp. one in North America or Europe.
| 1965 China Q. No. 22 182 They wait for relatives in Hong Kong to make arrangements with the ‘snakeheads’, or Hong Kong immigration smugglers. 1985 Observer 28 July 15/3 The terrorist snakeheads..carry out brutal acts of murder. 1998 National Geographic Aug. 71/1 (caption) To reach the U.S., some recent arrivals promised as much as $35,000 to smugglers, called snakeheads, who don't hesitate to use intimidation and violence to exact payment in full. 2004 Daily Tel. 10 June 1/4 Boat owners..were approached by snakeheads and asked to drop immigrants ‘close to the shore of the UK’. |