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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[From its color.]

(Zool.)

A poisonous American serpent (

Ancistrodon conotortrix

), closely allied to the rattlesnake, but without rattles; – called also

copper-belly

, and

red viper

A nickname applied to a person in the Northern States who sympathized with the South during the Civil War.

[U.S.]

See also: copperhead

Copperhead ‎(plural Copperheads)

(US, obsolete, slang) A northerner who sympathized with the South or wanted to end hostilities during the American Civil War.
(US, obsolete, pejorative) Any member of the Democratic party. [chiefly 1860s]

See also: Copperhead

A copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

copperhead ‎(plural copperheads)

Any of various types of snakes having a copper-colored head.
1. Agkistrodon contortrix, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America.
2. Austrelaps, or Australian copperhead, a genus of venomous elapids found in southern Australia and Tasmania.
3. Elaphe radiata, the copperhead rat snake, a non-venomous species found in southern Asia.
4. Deinagkistrodon acutus, the Chinese copperhead, a venomous pit viper species found in Southeast Asia
(pejorative) Someone with ginger hair.