sidewinder

Meaning

Noun

• A North American rattlesnake, Crotalus cerastes (species), that inhabits lowland deserts.
• A person who is untrustworthy and dangerous.
• A heavy swinging blow from the side which disables an adversary.
• A pitcher who throws sidearm.
• A type of middle-distance deep-sea trawler widely used during the 1960s and 1970s.

Origin

• From side + winder, from the sideways, looping manner in which they move.