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 North American copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix, a type of pit viper.
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
An average copperhead victim gets between six and ten vials of antivenom, but treatments vary depending on the bite, Greene said.
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
Found throughout the eastern and southern U.S., copperheads can easily survive in developed areas like suburban neighborhoods, which is one of the reason the species is responsible for the most venomous snake bites every year.
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
The mating season for copperheads occurs during spring, April through June, and they give birth in late summer.
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
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