sidewinder

noun

1. A North American rattlesnake, Crotalus cerastes, that inhabits lowland deserts.
2. (slang)A person who is untrustworthy and dangerous.
3. (dated, slang)A heavy swinging blow from the side which disables an adversary.
4. (colloquial)A pitcher who throws sidearm.
5. A type of middle-distance deep-sea trawler widely used during the 1960s and 1970s.
6. A rollercoaster element where riders enter a half-loop followed by a half-corkscrew, and exit perpendicular to the direction of entry.

verb

1. Synonym of sidewind.

name

1. Formally the AIM-9 Sidewinder, first used by the US in 1956, one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful short-range air-to-air missiles, still in use by many countries in the 2020s.