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sidewinder

 
Dictionary: side·wind·er   (sīd'wīn'dər) pronunciation

n.
  1. A small rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) of the southwest United States and Mexico that moves by a distinctive lateral looping motion of its body and has two hornlike scaly projections above its eyes.
  2. A powerful swinging punch delivered from the side.

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Species (Crotalus cerastes) of small, nocturnal rattlesnake, found in sandy deserts of Mexico and the southwestern U.S. It is 18 – 30 in. (45 – 75 cm) long. It has hornlike scales above its eyes and is pale tan, pinkish, or gray, with an inconspicuous spotted pattern on the back and sides. It moves by looping itself obliquely across the sand, leaving a characteristic J-shaped trail. Its venomous bite is usually not fatal to humans.

For more information on sidewinder, visit Britannica.com.

US Military Dictionary: Sidewinder
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AIM-9

An air-to-air missile with a nonnuclear warhead and an infrared, heat-seeking homing device. It was introduced in the 1950s and is still in use today. The ground-to-air equivalent is the Chaparral.

The Sidewinder got its name from early prototypes that zigzagged in flight, owing to off-center placement of the homing device that caused the target to appear to be moving as the missile spun in flight, thus influencing its flight path.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: sidewinder
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sidewinder, common name for a rattlesnake, Crotalus cerastes, found in the deserts of the SW United States. This 2-ft (60-cm), pale yellow and pink snake is named for its curious method of locomotion. It throws out successive loops at oblique angles, which gives it the appearance of moving sideways. This mode of progression, also evolved by certain African desert snakes, enables it to move over sand, which offers little traction. The sidewinder has prominent, erect scales above its eyes and is sometimes known as the horned rattlesnake. During the heat of the day it lies half buried in the sand; it hunts small animals in the evening. The sidewinder is classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Reptilia, order Squamata, family Crotalidae.


Wikipedia: Sidewinder
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Sidewinder may refer to:

  • Crotalus cerastes, a.k.a. the horned rattlesnake, a venomous pitviper species found in the desert regions of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
  • Bitis peringueyi, a.k.a Peringuey's desert adder, a venomous viper species found in the Namibian Desert in Africa.

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sidewinder" Read more