copperhead
Americannoun
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copperheads
plural
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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:
Today you could send me out onto the course with a bag containing a pogo stick, a copperhead and a mackerel, and I wouldn’t notice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that outdoor workers who step on or near a copperhead are most likely to be bitten.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 25, 2023
It wasn't long before she had her own run-ins with the slithering creatures—including a bite she received from a copperhead while doing yardwork.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 18, 2022
If you do see a copperhead, leave it alone or call a professional to relocate the snake to a safer place.
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2022
He could scent a diamond-back rattler or a copperhead long before I saw it, and he’d let me know that it was there.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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
Here are ways to make your property less appealing to copperheads, according to Kimberly Wyatt, assistant professor of biology at Good Samaritan College in Ohio:
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
Thankfully, there’d been no signs of copperheads yet, but that didn’t stop Genie from keeping an eye out for them.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
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.
