Definition

1. Noun:
   • A type of rattlesnake: A small, pale-colored desert rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) found in southwestern United States, known for its distinctive sideways looping locomotion.
   • A type of missile: An air-to-air missile equipped with infrared homing guidance.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Animal):
  • We spotted a sidewinder moving in its characteristic S-shaped track across the sand.
  • The sidewinder is well-adapted to life in the arid desert.
• Noun (Weapon):
  • The fighter jet was armed with advanced Sidewinder missiles.
  • The heat-seeking Sidewinder locked onto its target.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used metaphorically to describe something that moves or strikes in an indirect or sideways manner.
  • His argument was a rhetorical sidewinder, catching his opponent off guard.

Variants and Related Words

• Sidewinding (adj/gerund): Describing the characteristic sideways movement.
  • The sidewinding motion minimizes the snake's contact with hot sand.

Synonyms

• For the snake: horned rattlesnake.
• For the missile: heat-seeking missile, air-to-air missile.

Related Phrases

• To move like a sidewinder: To advance with a winding, lateral motion.
  • The vehicle had to move like a sidewinder to navigate the narrow, twisting canyon.

Noun

1. air-to-air missile with infrared homing device
2. small pale-colored desert rattlesnake of southwestern United States; body moves in an s-shaped curve