Redback

noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A venomous spider, Latrodectus hasselti, endemic to Australia. Australia

    "1988 June 16, Stephanie Pain, Things that go plop in the night, New Scientist, page 78, “If you find a redback, squash it firmly,” advised one guide."

  2. 2
    the yuan (CNY), the currency of the People's Republic of China (Red Chinese money) slang
  3. 3
    A brown and white sandpiper (Calidris alpina), native to the Northern Hemisphere; the dunlin. US

Synonyms

All synonyms
red chipredback spider

Example

More examples

"1988 June 16, Stephanie Pain, Things that go plop in the night, New Scientist, page 78, “If you find a redback, squash it firmly,” advised one guide."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From red + back.

Etymology 2

Modelled after greenback, the currency of the United States of America, except using Communist Red

Related phrases

black widowcalidris alpinanorthern hemispherepeople's republic of chinared chinese

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.