Redback
Origin 1
From red + back.
Full definition of redback
Noun
redback
(plural redbacks)- (Australia) A venomous spider, , endemic to Australia.
- 1988 June 16, Stephanie Pain, Things that go plop in the night, New Scientist'', %22redbacks%22+australia+-intitle:%22redback%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nOD_T6OPMI6biQfp7NjrBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false page 78,“If you find a redback, squash it firmly,†advised one guide.
- 2005 October, Martha Harrison, Brilliant 10: Marydianne Andrade, Popular Science, %22redbacks%22+australia+-intitle:%22redback%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nOD_T6OPMI6biQfp7NjrBw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false page 58,Andrade first encountered the redback— whose lethal bite gives it as infamous a reputation in Australia as the black widow enjoys here in North America—when her grad-school adviser asked to travel to go to Perth to study them.
- 2007, Steve Backshall, Steve Backshall's Venom: Poisonous Animals in the Natural World, page 114,Easily identified by a red, orange or brownish stripe on the abdomen, Redbacks are responsible for by far the most spider bites in Australia.
- 2012, Peter Macinnis, Australian Backyard Naturalist, page 55,The only truly dangerous Australian spiders are funnelwebs and redbacks but, these days, deaths of people from these spiders seem to be a thing of the past since antivenom is now available.
- (US) A brown and white sandpiper, Calidris alpina, native to the Northern Hemisphere; the dunlin.
Synonyms
- (Latrodectus hasselti) redback spider
- (Calidris alpina)
Origin 2
Derived from greenback, the currency of the United States of America, except using Communist Red
Noun
redback
(plural redbacks)- (slang) the yuan (CNY), the currency of the People's Republic of China (Red Chinese money)