A spider resembling the black widow, some species of which are moderately poisonous to humans.
Genus Steatoda, family Theridiidae: numerous species, in particular S. nobilis, the bite of which can be painful, native to Madeira and the Canary Islands and naturalized in parts of Europe and elsewhere
Example sentencesExamples
She woke up in excruciating pain when she rolled over and was bitten by the false widow on the back of the left hand.
Several people reported seeing a spider called a false widow, which has a disconcerting behavior of rushing toward people who approach it.
He collapsed after being bitten 10 times by a false widow on the neck and back.
False widows have a dark, shiny body and are so named because they are often mistaken for the notorious black widow.
"I know you have been having problems with false widows in the UK but I am more concerned with white-tailed spiders."
The false widow that bit her was later killed by a local authority pest control team.
After identifying the spider as a false widow on a hospital computer, he was sent home with anti-histamine tablets.
False widow spiders – Steatoda nobilis in Latin – are no bigger than a 20p piece but they have the worst bite out of every spider species in the UK.
The false widow spider, a relative of the black widow, bit him three times on the chest and stomach after it fell down the front of his shirt a week ago.
"All spiders are venomous but the difference with these false widow spiders is that their fangs can pierce the skin."
Definition of false widow in US English:
false widow
(also false widow spider)
noun
A spider resembling the black widow, some species of which are moderately poisonous to humans.
Genus Steatoda, family Theridiidae: numerous species, in particular S. nobilis, the bite of which can be painful, native to Madeira and the Canary Islands and naturalized in parts of Europe and elsewhere
Example sentencesExamples
False widow spiders – Steatoda nobilis in Latin – are no bigger than a 20p piece but they have the worst bite out of every spider species in the UK.
Several people reported seeing a spider called a false widow, which has a disconcerting behavior of rushing toward people who approach it.
The false widow that bit her was later killed by a local authority pest control team.
She woke up in excruciating pain when she rolled over and was bitten by the false widow on the back of the left hand.
He collapsed after being bitten 10 times by a false widow on the neck and back.
"I know you have been having problems with false widows in the UK but I am more concerned with white-tailed spiders."
After identifying the spider as a false widow on a hospital computer, he was sent home with anti-histamine tablets.
False widows have a dark, shiny body and are so named because they are often mistaken for the notorious black widow.
The false widow spider, a relative of the black widow, bit him three times on the chest and stomach after it fell down the front of his shirt a week ago.
"All spiders are venomous but the difference with these false widow spiders is that their fangs can pierce the skin."