copperhead
Americannoun
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a venomous snake, Agkistrodon (Ancistrodon ) contortrix, of the eastern and southern U.S., having a light-brown to copper-red body marked with darker bands.
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an extremely venomous but sluggish snake, Denisonia superba, of Australia and Tasmania, having a reddish to black body, depending on the region.
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Copperhead,
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U.S. History. a Northern Democrat who opposed the Civil War, advocating peace and restoration of the Union even if slavery continued.
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Military. a finned, 155 mm cannon-launched U.S. Army artillery shell that homes on the target, using the reflection of a laser beam projected by a forward observer.
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noun
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a venomous reddish-brown snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, of the eastern US: family Crotalidae (pit vipers)
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a venomous reddish-brown Australian elapid snake, Denisonia superba
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informal a Yankee supporter of the South during the Civil War
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of copperhead
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The North American copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix, a type of pit viper.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 25, 2023
“I knew better than to dig in a pile of leaves,” she says of her brush with the copperhead.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 18, 2022
In one of Greene’s former cases, he met an avid triathlete in her 30s many weeks after she received a copperhead bite on the foot.
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2022
When he brought her inside to examine the wounds, he saw “fang marks,” likely delivered by a venomous copperhead snake.
From Fox News ● Sep. 25, 2018
I picked up the other shovel, and a copperhead snake crawled out from underneath it.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
According to Penn State, warm, humid nights after a period of rain are the best time to see copperheads.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 25, 2023
Today Pyle's group has more than 176,000 members eagerly exchanging information about the region's venomous rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths and coral snakes, as well as its nonvenomous rat snakes and water snakes, among other harmless species.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 18, 2022
“But unfortunately, the biggest problem most of my colleagues and I see when it comes to copperheads is that they are minimized by physicians who just don’t know much about snakebites.”
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2022
Officials did not say what type of snake was thought to have bitten the animal, but copperheads and rattlesnakes have been found on the Outer Banks, The Charlotte Observer reported.
From Washington Times ● May 26, 2020
The boy was glad it was winter because in summer there might have been dry-land moccasins and copperheads under the cabin.
From "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
