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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• black widows
  plural

Etymology

Origin of black widow

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

The system may belong to a rare category known as a black widow.

From Science Daily • Jan. 1, 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

Though some consider brown widows invasive — believed to originally hail from Africa — they have an upside: Their bite carries less of a punch than a black widow.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2024

About the spider that probably wasn’t a black widow at all.

From "Fourth Grade Rats" by Jerry Spinelli