spider : Idioms & Phrases

Bal*loon"ing spi"der

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) A spider which has the habit of rising into the air. Many kinds ( esp. species of Lycosa) do this while young by ejecting threads of silk until the force of the wind upon them carries the spider aloft.

Webster 1913

• noun an orange and tan spider with darkly banded legs that spins an orb web daily
  Araneus cavaticus.
  
  • the barn spider was made famous in E. B. White's book `Charlotte's Web'

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a very large South American spider (Mygale avicularia). It is said sometimes to capture and kill small birds.

Webster 1913

• noun a widely distributed North American garden spider
  Argiope aurantia.
  

WordNet

• noun spider having a comb-like row of bristles on each hind foot
  theridiid.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), one of a group of spiders (Laterigradæ); called because they can run backwards or sideways like a crab.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), the garden spider.

Webster 1913

• noun spring-blooming spider orchid having a flower with yellow or green or pink sepals and a broad brown velvety lip
  Ophrys sphegodes.
  

WordNet

• noun a large spider crab of Europe
  king crab; Maja squinado.
  

WordNet

• noun large southern European spider once thought to be the cause of tarantism (uncontrollable bodily movement)
  tarantula; Lycosa tarentula.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) See Ballooning spider.

Webster 1913

• noun a spider common in European gardens
  Aranea diademata.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), the diadem spider (Epeira diadema), common in gardens, both in Europe and America. It spins a geometrical web. See Geometric spider, and Spider web.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), one of many species of spiders, which spin a geometrical web. They mostly belong to Epeira and allied genera, as the garden spider. See Garden spider.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), any small or young spider which spins webs by which to sail in the air. See Ballooning spider.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a common spider (Agelena nævia), which spins flat webs on grass, conspicuous when covered with dew.

Webster 1913

• . (Zoöl.) See Daddy longlegs.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), any spider which habitually lives in houses. Among the most common species are Theridium tepidariorum and Tegenaria domestica.

Webster 1913

• noun ground spider that hunts its prey instead of using a web
  hunting spider.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a spider which hunts its prey, instead of catching it in a web; a wolf spider.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), spider of the genus Salticus and other related genera; one of the Saltigradæ; so called because it leaps upon its prey.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a jumping spider; one of the Saltigradæ.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a small spider; so called as being popularly supposed to indicate that the person upon whom it crawls will be fortunate in money matters.

Webster 1913

• noun a spider that spins a circular (or near circular) web
  

WordNet

• noun small web-spinning mite; a serious orchard pest
  red spider; Panonychus ulmi.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), a very small web-spinning mite (Tetranychus telarius) which infests, and often destroys, plants of various kinds, especially those cultivated in houses and conservatories. It feeds mostly on the under side of the leaves, and causes them to turn yellow and die. The adult insects are usually pale red. Called also red mite.

Webster 1913

• noun small web-spinning mite; a serious orchard pest
  red spider; Panonychus ulmi.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.), any one of the Pedipalpi.

Webster 1913

• noun any of various small spiderlike marine arthropods having small thin bodies and long slender legs
  pycnogonid.
  

WordNet

Sea" spi"der

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) (a) Any maioid crab; a spider crab. See Maioid, and Spider crab, under Spider. (b) Any pycnogonid.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), one of a tribe of spiders which rest motionless until their prey is caught in their web.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a daddy longlegs, or harvestman.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a large spider (Nephila plumipes), native of the Southern United States, remarkable for the large quantity of strong silk it produces and for the great disparity in the sizes of the sexes.

Webster 1913

• noun a dilation of superficial capillaries with a central red dot from which blood vessels radiate
  spider nevus; spider angioma.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) Same as Solitary ant, under Solitary.

Webster 1913

• noun Asiatic fern introduced in America
  spider brake; Pteris multifida.
  

WordNet

• noun any of numerous crabs with very long legs and small triangular bodies
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of maioid crabs having a more or less triangular body and ten long legs. Some of the species grow to great size, as the great Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira Kempferi), measuring sometimes more than fifteen feet across the legs when they are extended.

Webster 1913

• noun fern of North Africa and Azores and Canary Islands
  Pteris serrulata; ribbon fern.
  
• noun Asiatic fern introduced in America
  spider brake; Pteris multifida.
  

WordNet

• noun native to South America but naturalized in warm parts of United States; grown for its long-lasting spider-shaped white to pink-purple flowers
  spider flower; Cleome hassleriana.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of parasitic dipterous insects of the family Hippoboscidæ. They are mostly destitute of wings, and live among the feathers of birds and the hair of bats. Called also bird tick, and bat tick.

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), any one of several species of East Indian sunbirds of the genus Arachnothera.

Webster 1913

• filaments of a spider's web crossing the field of vision in optical instruments; used for determining the exact position of objects and making delicate measurements. Fine wires, silk fibers, or lines on glass similarly placed, are called spider lines.

Webster 1913

• noun web-spinning mite that attacks garden plants and fruit trees
  tetranychid.
  

WordNet

• . (Zoöl.) (a) Any one of several species of parasitic mites of the genus Argas and allied genera . See Argas. (b) Any one of numerous small mites injurious to plants.

Webster 1913

• noun arboreal monkey of tropical America with long slender legs and long prehensile tail
  Ateles geoffroyi.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of South American monkeys of the genus Ateles, having very long legs and a long prehensile tail.

Webster 1913

• noun a dilation of superficial capillaries with a central red dot from which blood vessels radiate
  spider nevus; spider angioma.
  

WordNet

• noun any of several European orchids of the genus Ophrys
  
• noun Central American orchid having spiderlike flowers with prominent green warts
  Brassia verrucosa.
  
• noun South American orchid with spiderlike pale-yellow to pale-green flowers
  Brassia lawrenceana.
  

WordNet

• (Bot.), a European orchidaceous plant (Ophrys aranifera), having flowers which resemble spiders.

Webster 1913

• noun native to South America but naturalized in warm parts of United States; grown for its long-lasting spider-shaped white to pink-purple flowers
  spider flower; Cleome hassleriana.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), any shell of the genus Pteroceras. See Pteroceras.

Webster 1913

• noun a web resembling the webs spun by spiders
  spider web.
  
• noun a web spun by spiders to trap insect prey
  spider web.
  

WordNet

Spi"der web", Spi"der's web" (Also<

• Spider web
• Spider's web

)

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) The silken web which is formed by most kinds of spiders, particularly the web spun to entrap their prey. See Geometric spider, Triangle spider, under Geometric, and Triangle. = cobweb

Webster 1913

• noun a web resembling the webs spun by spiders
  spider web.
  
• noun a web spun by spiders to trap insect prey
  spider web.
  

WordNet

Spi"der web", Spi"der's web" (Also<

• Spider web
• Spider's web

)

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) The silken web which is formed by most kinds of spiders, particularly the web spun to entrap their prey. See Geometric spider, Triangle spider, under Geometric, and Triangle. = cobweb

Webster 1913

• adjective satellite shaped in the form of a spider
  

WordNet

• noun American spider that constructs a silk-lined nest with a hinged lid
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), any one of several species of large spiders which make a nest consisting of a vertical hole in the earth, lined with a hinged lid, like a trapdoor. Most of the species belong to the genus Cteniza, as the California species (C. Californica).

Webster 1913

• (Zoöl.), a small American spider (Hyptiotes Americanus) of the family Ciniflonidæ, living among the dead branches of evergreen trees. It constructs a triangular web, or net, usually composed of four radii crossed by a double elastic fiber. The spider holds the thread at the apex of the web and stretches it tight, but lets go and springs the net when an insect comes in contact with it.

Webster 1913

• noun a dilation of superficial capillaries with a central red dot from which blood vessels radiate
  spider nevus; spider angioma.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), any one of a tribe of spiders that wander about in search of their prey.

Webster 1913

Wa"ter spi"der

Definitions

1. (Zoöl.) (a) An aquatic European spider (Argyoneta aquatica) which constructs its web beneath the surface of the water on water plants. It lives in a bell-shaped structure of silk, open beneath like a diving bell, and filled with air which the spider carries down in the form of small bubbles attached one at a time to the spinnerets and hind feet. Called also diving spider. (b) A water mite. (c) Any spider that habitually lives on or about the water, especially the large American species (Dolomedes lanceolatus) which runs rapidly on the surface of water; -- called also raft spider.

Webster 1913

• noun ground spider that hunts its prey instead of using a web
  hunting spider.
  

WordNet

• (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of running ground spiders belonging to the genus Lycosa, or family Lycosidæ. These spiders run about rapidly in search of their prey. Most of them are plain brown or blackish in color. See Illust. in App.

Webster 1913

• a hunting spider.

Webster 1913