sidewinder

noun

side·​wind·​er ˈsīd-ˌwīn-dər How to pronounce sidewinder (audio)
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

Illustration of sidewinder

Illustration of sidewinder
  • sidewinder 2

Examples of sidewinder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
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 

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sidewinder was in 1824

Dictionary Entries Near sidewinder

Cite this Entry

“Sidewinder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sidewinder. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

sidewinder

noun
side·​wind·​er -ˌwīn-dər How to pronounce sidewinder (audio)
: 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 How to pronounce sidewinder (audio)
: 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

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