black widow

American  

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of black widow

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Roger Romani of Stanford University and the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology is one of the world's leading experts on black widow systems.

From Science Daily • Jan. 1, 2026

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

The black widow possesses venom 15 times as powerful as that of a rattlesnake.

From National Geographic • Jul. 13, 2023

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