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 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 When attacked by predators like sidewinder snakes, the rodents execute stunt-like aerial kicks that smack snakes away in a matter of milliseconds. 3. Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 6 June 2023 Following a call from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to President Biden, Biden authorized that U.S. aircraft take down the new high-altitude object and a U.S. F-22 shot it down with a sidewinder missile, Ryder said. ABC News, 12 Feb. 2023 The Buffalo Chicken Sidewinder features sidewinder potatoes, FLAMIN’ HOT Cheetos dust, smoked chicken, blue cheese, green onion and ranch dip. Mark Faller, The Arizona Republic, 5 Apr. 2022 The object was downed by a sidewinder missile shot from an F-22 fighter jet, the same warplane and weapon that were used to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY, 10 Feb. 2023 The most often encountered are the Western diamondback, Western, Mojave, black-tailed and sidewinder, all of which have rattles on their tails that may vibrate when nervous. Ellie Willard, The Arizona Republic, 8 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sidewinder.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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 19 Mar. 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

More from Merriam-Webster on sidewinder

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