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

Etymology

Origin of black widow

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

black widow

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

But gram for gram, nothing in the universe comes close to the green speckled recluse; among other spiders, compared with the green speckled recluse, the black widow was a rag doll.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman