black widow

black wid·ow

B b

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [blak wid-oh]
- /blæk ˈwɪd oʊ/
- /blæk ˈwɪd.əʊ/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [blak wid-oh]
- /blæk ˈwɪd oʊ/

Definitions of black widow words

noun black widow an American spider, Latrodectus mactans, the female of which is black with red markings, highly venomous, and commonly eats its mate 3
noun black widow a female suicide bomber, esp a Chechen rebel 3
noun black widow an American spider (Latrodectus mactans), the female of which has a glossy black body with an hourglass-shaped red mark underneath, and a poisonous bite which is normally not fatal 3
noun black widow a venomous spider, Latrodectus mactans, widely distributed in the U.S., the female of which is jet-black with an hourglass-shaped red mark on the underside of its abdomen. 1
noun black widow poisonous North American spider 1
noun black widow Any of several species of venomous spider, particularly Latrodectus sp.. The bite is painful to humans, rarely fatal to healthy individuals, but can be life-threatening or fatal to infants or young toddlers. Females are marked by a red hourglass shape on the abdomen (see photo, this page, and photos in Wikipedia). Mature males are smaller, of the same black color or a dark brown, have an elongated and slender abdomen (rather than the rotund abdomen of the mature female), and are marked on the dorsal of the abdomen with small flattened diamond shapes of the same scarlet color as the female's marks on the ventral of her abdomen. 0

See all 8 definitions of black widow

Information block about the term

Origin of black widow

First appearance:

before 1910

One of the 15% newest English words

First recorded in 1910-15

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Black widow

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Black widow

black widow popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 37% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 63% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

black widow usage trend in Literature

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