boa

plural boas · obsolete plural boæ

1. Any of a group of large American snakes, of the genus Boa, subfamily Boinae, or family Boidae, including the boa constrictor and the emperor boa of Mexico.
2. A type of long scarf; typically made from synthetic or real feathers (or occasionally fur), and usually worn by being draped across the shoulders with the ends hanging low, sometimes also with a loop around the neck.

   Do not take up your boa as if it were the rope with which you meant to hang yourself; nor wrap your shawl round you as if it were your shroud.

   1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 220

plural Boas

1. A member of a Bwa-speaking ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

   Synonyms: Ababua

plural BoAs

1. abbreviationacronyminitialismastronomyAbbreviation of basin of attraction; the gravitational center of a supercluster of galaxies; a Great Attractor.

1. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of British Olympic Association.