black widow

American  

noun

• black widows
  plural

1. 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.

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black widow British  

noun

1. an American spider, Latrodectus mactans , the female of which is black with red markings, highly venomous, and commonly eats its mate

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• black widows
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of black widow

First recorded in 1910–15

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

black widow

In a typical black widow binary, the strong contrast between the masses of the two objects produces a distinctive motion.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

Verrelli has studied the spread of black widow spiders, an increasing medical health concern in cities along the West Coast.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2025

Hunting at night for crabs and avoiding being bitten by black widow spiders, he tells the cameras: "I'll be slammed for this Phillip Schofield mad rant."

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2024

That also helps you to avoid other venomous animals that live in the park, including scorpions and black widow spiders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2024

He watched it passively for a moment, until of a sudden he realized it was a female black widow doing her thing not three feet from his toes.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

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