Redback
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Redback is a noun meaning (Australia) A venomous spider, Latrodectus hasselti, endemic to Australia.
Meaning
(Australia) A venomous spider, Latrodectus hasselti, endemic to Australia.
More Meanings
- (US) A brown and white sandpiper (Calidris alpina), native to the Northern Hemisphere; the dunlin.
- (slang) the yuan (CNY), the currency of the People's Republic of China (Red Chinese money)
Example Sentences
Easily identified by a red, orange or brownish stripe on the abdomen, Redbacks are responsible for by far the most spider bites in Australia.
Many a red-back, funnel-web, or other spider has found its resting days at the bottom of a vegemite jar shoved into some dark recess of the laundry.
1988 June 16, Stephanie Pain, Things that go plop in the night, New Scientist, page 78, “If you find a redback, squash it firmly,” advised one guide.
The only truly dangerous Australian spiders are funnelwebs and redbacks but, these days, deaths of people from these spiders seem to be a thing of the past since antivenom is now available.
Word Forms
- redbacks
- red-back
- red back
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include red back, widow, fiddleback, redtail, copperhead, red-eye.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
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