spider

[spahy-der] /ˈspaɪ dər/

noun

any of numerous predaceous arachnids of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs that serve as nests and as traps for prey.

(loosely) any of various other arachnids resembling or suggesting these.

any of various things resembling or suggesting a spider.

a frying pan, originally one with legs or feet.

a trivet or tripod, as for supporting a pot or pan on a hearth.

Machinery.

a part having a number of radiating spokes or arms, usually not connected at their outer ends.
Also called cross. (in a universal joint) a crosslike part pivoted between the forked ends of two shafts to transmit motion between them.

Digital Technology. web crawler.

an evil person who entraps or lures others by wiles.

a device attached to a cultivator, for pulverizing the soil.

Origin

before 1150; Middle English spithre, Old English spīthra, akin to spinnan to spin; cognate with Danish spinder

Related forms

spiderless, adjective

spiderlike, adjective

Examples from the web for spider

As every schoolboy discovers, pulling some of the legs off a spider does not stop it walking.
If the spider feels threatened, it will rub its legs against its abdomen, launching these hairs into the air.
Monitor for scale, mealybugs, or spider mites and spray with an insecticidal soap if necessary.
Snippets of spider genes let mutant silkworms spin silk stronger than steel.
The strength and elasticity of spider silk makes it the toughest natural fiber.
Common pests include aphids, whiteflies, and spider mites.
spider fossils are tough to find because their soft bodies don't preserve well.
The fishing spider needs neither rod nor reel to lure in tadpoles, fish, or frogs.
The mere sight of a snake or spider strikes terror in the hearts of millions of people.
Inflicting pain is only one function of spider venom, however, scientists point out.

British Dictionary definitions for spider

spider

/ˈspaɪdə/

noun

any predatory silk-producing arachnid of the order Araneae, having four pairs of legs and a rounded unsegmented body consisting of abdomen and cephalothorax See also wolf spider, trap-door spider, tarantula, black widow

any of various similar or related arachnids

a hub fitted with radiating spokes or arms that serve to transmit power or support a load

(agriculture) an instrument used with a cultivator to pulverize soil

any implement or tool having the shape of a spider

(nautical) a metal frame fitted at the base of a mast to which halyards are tied when not in use

any part of a machine having a number of radiating spokes, tines, or arms

(Brit) Also called octopus. a cluster of elastic straps fastened at a central point and used to hold a load on a car rack, motorcycle, etc

(billiards, snooker) a rest having long legs, used to raise the cue above the level of the height of the ball

10.

(angling) an artificial fly tied with a hackle and no wings, perhaps originally thought to imitate a spider

11.

(computing) a computer program that is capable of performing sophisticated recursive searches on the internet

12.

short for spider phaeton

Word Origin

Old English spīthra; related to Danish spinder, German Spinne; see spin

Word Origin and History for spider

Old English spiþra, from Proto-Germanic *spenthro (cf. Danish spinder), from *spenwanan "to spin" (see spin). The connection with the root is more transparent in other Germanic cognates (cf. Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Middle High German, German spinne, Dutch spin "spider").

In literature, often a figure of cunning, skill, and industry as well as poisonous predation. As the name for a type of two-pack solitaire, it is attested from 1890. Another Old English word for the creature was gangewifre "a weaver as he goes," and Middle English also had araine "spider" (14c.-15c., from French). Spider plant is from 1852; spider crab is from 1710; spider monkey is from 1764, so called for its long limbs.

spider in Medicine

spider spi·der (spī'dər)
n.

Any of numerous arachnids of the order Araneae, having a body divided into a cephalothorax bearing eight legs, two poison fangs, and two feelers and an unsegmented abdomen bearing several spinnerets that produce the silk used to make nests, cocoons, or webs for trapping insects.
An arterial spider.

spider in Technology

World-Wide Web
(Or "robot", "crawler") A program that automatically explores the World-Wide Web by retrieving a document and recursively retrieving some or all the documents that are referenced in it. This is in contrast with a normal web browser operated by a human that doesn't automatically follow links other than inline images and URL redirection.
The algorithm used to pick which references to follow strongly depends on the program's purpose. Index-building spiders usually retrieve a significant proportion of the references. The other extreme is spiders that try to validate the references in a set of documents; these usually do not retrieve any of the links apart from redirections.
The standard for robot exclusion is designed to avoid some problems with spiders.
Early examples were Lycos and WebCrawler.
Home (https://info.webcrawler.com/mak/projects/robots/robots.html).
(2001-04-30)

spider in the Bible

The trust of the hypocrite is compared to the spider's web or house (Job 8:14). It is said of the wicked by Isaiah that they "weave the spider's web" (59:5), i.e., their works and designs are, like the spider's web, vain and useless. The Hebrew word here used is _'akkabish_, "a swift weaver." In Prov. 30:28 a different Hebrew word (semamith) is used. It is rendered in the Vulgate by stellio, and in the Revised Version by "lizard." It may, however, represent the spider, of which there are, it is said, about seven hundred species in Palestine.