sidewinder
pronunciation
How to pronounce sidewinder in British English:
UK [ˈsaɪdwaɪndə(r)]
How to pronounce sidewinder in American English:
US
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- Noun:
- small pale-colored desert rattlesnake of southwestern United States; body moves in an s-shaped curve
- air-to-air missile with infrared homing device
Word Origin
- sidewinder (n.)
- small horned rattlesnake of southwestern U.S., 1875, American English, from side (adj.) + agent noun of wind (v.), so called in reference to its "peculiar lateral progressive motion." Also sidewiper (1888).
Example
- 1. The fighter jet fired one sidewinder missile at the reaper , causing the uav to crash into a mountain side .
- 2. A couple of years later , in 1983 , it blasted some sidewinder air-to-air missiles .
- 3. Sidewinder , an air-to-air missile bearing the name of a rattlesnake , is launched from a fighter plane .
- 4. A statement from u.s. central command says desert sidewinder opened with 20 simultaneous raids sunday , using attack helicopters , tanks and infantry .
- 5. Ground controllers picked an unpopulated area over northern afghanistan and the jet fired a sidewinder missile , destroying the reaper 's turbo-prop engine .