Illustration of sidewinder
- sidewinder 2
sidewinder
noun
side·wind·er
ˈsīd-ˌwīn-dər 
1
: a heavy swinging blow from the side
2
: a small pale-colored desert rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) of the southwestern U.S. that moves by thrusting its body diagonally forward in a series of flat S-shaped curves
Examples of sidewinder in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
South Shore Terrace's 2023 sales In 2023, South Shore Terrace served more than 100,000 beers, 15,000 non-alcoholic drinks, 25,000 orders of sidewinder fries, 5,500 orders of cheese curds and 5,000 pretzels.
—
Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2024
Among them is a man who a month ago was bitten by a sidewinder rattlesnake near the desert resort city of Palm Springs.
—Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2023
Two F-22s tracked the object and one of them fired the AIM-9X sidewinder missile near the location of Deadhorse, Alaska, which is right on Prudhoe Bay, according to the Pentagon.
—ABC News, 12 Feb. 2023
The variety of rattlesnakes in the U.S. is vast, from the Eastern Diamondback, which loves the long pine forests of the Southeast and can be found in parks throughout the region, from the Everglades to Cumberland Island National Seashore, to the sidewinder, found in the deserts of the Southwest.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 28 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for sidewinder 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2024
Among them is a man who a month ago was bitten by a sidewinder rattlesnake near the desert resort city of Palm Springs.
—Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2023
Two F-22s tracked the object and one of them fired the AIM-9X sidewinder missile near the location of Deadhorse, Alaska, which is right on Prudhoe Bay, according to the Pentagon.
—ABC News, 12 Feb. 2023
The variety of rattlesnakes in the U.S. is vast, from the Eastern Diamondback, which loves the long pine forests of the Southeast and can be found in parks throughout the region, from the Everglades to Cumberland Island National Seashore, to the sidewinder, found in the deserts of the Southwest.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 28 Mar. 2023
See all Example Sentences for sidewinder
Dictionary Entries Near sidewinder
Cite this Entry
“Sidewinder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sidewinder. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sidewinder
noun
side·wind·er
-ˌwīn-dər
: a small rattlesnake of the southwestern U.S. that moves by thrusting its body diagonally forward in a series of flat S-shaped loops
Medical Definition
sidewinder
noun
side·wind·er
ˈsīd-ˌwīnd-ər
: a small pale-colored venomous rattlesnake of the genus Crotalus (C. cerastes) of the southwestern United States that moves by thrusting its body diagonally forward in a series of S-shaped curves
called also horned rattlesnake
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share