diamondback
Americannoun
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Also called: diamondback terrapin. diamondback turtle. any edible North American terrapin of the genus Malaclemys, esp M. terrapin, occurring in brackish and tidal waters and having diamond-shaped markings on the shell: family Emydidae
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a large North American rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus, having cream-and-grey diamond-shaped markings
Etymology
Origin of diamondback
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.
Common rattlesnakes in California include the Mojave, northern Pacific, red, sidewinder, speckled, and western diamondback rattlesnakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
It turned out to be a diamondback terrapin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
The woman placed a box next to the home’s front door Monday evening when the eastern diamondback snake jumped out and bit her, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
But existing experimental permits already enable researchers to grow more than enough engineered Camelina to meet the current worldwide demand for pheromone control of diamondback moths and cotton bollworms, says Agenor Mafra-Neto, CEO of ISCA.
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 1, 2022
It had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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.
