copperhead

1. a venomous reddish-brown snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, of the eastern US: family Crotalidae (pit vipers)

2. a venomous reddish-brown Australian elapid snake, Denisonia superba

3. US History a Yankee supporter of the South during the Civil War

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Copperhead

(pop culture)

In The Brave and the Bold #78 (1968), a Batman/ Wonder Woman/Batgirl team-up by Bob Haney and Bob Brown, the Caped Crusader was first perplexed by Copperhead, a contortionist/burglar (whose real name is never disclosed) wearing a snake-skin uniform enabling him to slither through narrow passages. When confronted in his gruesome grotto, Copperhead's “poison mist” is potent enough to render Wonder Woman unconscious, while his headpiece's snake-fangs pack a near-fatal bite for Batman. Batman resolutely expends his “last bit of strength” to clobber Copperhead, while forethoughtful Batgirl saves the hero's life with an anti-venom serum tucked away in her purse. Copperhead might have permanently crawled under a rock after this villain-of-the-month outing had writer/editor Gerry Conway not tossed him into the pages of Secret Society of Super-Villains in 1976. The perfidious rogue was not to be trusted—as if honesty was ever a virtue among this criminal viper pit—and he even snitched on his allies to prison guards to save his own skin. After Secret Society's 1978 cancellation, Copperhead rarely struck until the 1990s, when he returned in various DC Comics titles (Hawk and Dove, Superboy, etc.) as an assassin-for-hire. He brokered a deal with the demon Neron in 1995's Underworld Unleashed, becoming a genuine serpent-man with a venomous touch. Actor Jose Yenque's spine-chilling voice made Copperhead a popular foe on the Cartoon Network's Justice League (2001–2004), hatching the villain's 2004 toy debut as a Justice League figurine distributed at Jack in the Box.

copperhead

[′käp·ər‚hed]

(vertebrate zoology)

Agkistrodon contortrix. A pit viper of the eastern United States; grows to about 3 feet (90 centimeters) in length and is distinguished by its coppery-brown skin with dark transverse blotches.

copperhead

deadly pit viper in eastern U.S. [Zoology: NCE, 652]

See: Deadliness

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Copperhead

(Ancistrodon contortrix), a poisonous snake with a body measuring up to 120 cm. The upper part of the body is yellowish brown with red-brown crossbands. The top of the head is copper red (hence the name). The copperhead is found in eastern and southeastern states of the USA. It inhabits sparse forests, meadows, and rocky slopes; it also lives in orchards and among crops. The snake feeds on small rodents, birds, frogs, and insects. It is viviparous, with the female giving birth to five or six young. The copperhead is very active and aggressive; humans and domestic animals are bitten by it quite frequently. Its bite is painful to man but not dangerous.