black widow

noun

Updated on: 8 Apr 2018

Definition of black widow

: a venomous New World spider (Latrodectus mactans of the family Theridiidae) the female of which is black with an hourglass-shaped red mark on the underside of the abdomen; broadly : any of various related venomous spiders that have a large globular, usually glossy, dark abdomen often marked with red and long and wiry legs

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Recent Examples of black widow from the Web

The Oregon Department of Agriculture says the black widow is probably the most dangerous.

— aimee green, OregonLive.com, "Manager of upscale Portland restaurant bitten by poisonous spider, $999,999 lawsuit says," 14 Mar. 2018
As Winchester, who lost her husband and young child at an early age, Mirren spends the film in black widow's lace.

— jen yamato, latimes.com, "Helen Mirren welcomes the Time's Up movement and the anti-gun vibe of horror film 'Winchester'," 26 Jan. 2018
As Winchester, who lost her husband and young child at an early age, Mirren spends the film in black widow’s lace.

— jen yamato, Detroit Free Press, "Mirren saw ‘Winchester’ as a horror film with a conscience," 1 Feb. 2018
Similar to today’s black widows and huntsman spiders, C. yingi had silk-producing spinnerets near its rear end.

— nicholas st. fleur, New York Times, "Spider-like Creature With a Scorpion’s Tail Found Trapped in Amber," 5 Feb. 2018
For example, black widows make α-latrotoxin, which specifically attacks vertebrate nerve cells, but the house spider does not.

— elizabeth pennisi, Science | AAAS, "Spider genes put a new spin on arachnids’ potent venoms, stunning silks, and surprising history," 19 Oct. 2017
The brown widow has almost completely supplanted the native black widow.

— jonathon keats, Discover Magazine, "L.A.'s Surprising Urban Biodiversity," 10 Nov. 2017
Diane Fanning: Raynella was now being described as a black widow.

— erin moriarty, CBS News, "Raynella Leath: The Widow on Solway Road," 30 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'black widow.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of black widow

First Known Use of black widow

1830

BLACK WIDOW Defined for English Language Learners

black widow

noun

Definition of black widow for English Language Learners

: a poisonous American spider

BLACK WIDOW Defined for Kids

black widow

noun

Definition of black widow for Students

: a poisonous spider the female of which is black with a red mark shaped like an hourglass on the underside of the abdomen

Medical Dictionary

black widow

noun black wid·ow \ -ˈwid-ˌō \

medical Definition of black widow

: a venomous New World spider of the genus Latrodectus (L. mactans) the female of which is black with an hourglass-shaped red mark on the underside of the abdomen; broadly : any other spider of the genus Latrodectus