spider
pronunciation
How to pronounce spider in British English:
UK [ˈspaɪdə(r)]
How to pronounce spider in American English:
US [ˈspaɪdər]
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- Noun:
- predatory arachnid that usually has silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
- a computer program that prowls the internet looking for publicly accessible resources that can be added to a database; the database can then be searched with a search engine
- a skillet made of cast iron
Word Origin
- spider
- spider: [OE] The spider is etymologically the ‘spinner’. Its name goes back to a primitive Old English *spinthron, a derivative of the verb spinnan ‘spin’. The inspiration is the same, and much more obvious, behind other Germanic words for ‘spider’, such as German spinne, Dutch spinner, Swedish spindel, and Danish spinder.=> spin
- spider (n.)
- late 14c., spydyr, from earlier spiþre, spiþur, spiþer (14c.), from Old English spiðra, from Proto-Germanic *spin-thron- (cognate with Danish spinder), literally "the spinner," from *spen-wo- "to spin" (see spin (v.)) + formative or agential *-thro. The connection with the root is more transparent in other Germanic cognates (such as Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Middle High German, German spinne, Dutch spin "spider"). The male is commonly much smaller than the female, and in impregnating the female runs great risk of being devoured. The difference in sizes is as if the human female should be some 60 or 70 feet tall. [Century Dictionary] Not the common word in Old English, which identified the creatures as loppe, lobbe, also atorcoppe, and, from Latin, renge. Another Old English word was gangewifre "a weaver as he goes," and Middle English had araine "spider" (14c.-15c., from French). In literature, often a figure of cunning, skill, and industry as well as poisonous predation; in 17c. English used figuratively for poisonousness and thread-spinning but also sensitivity (to vibrations), lurking, independence. As the name for a type of two-pack solitaire, it is attested from 1890. Spider crab is from 1710, used of various species; spider monkey is from 1764, so called for its long limbs.
Example
- 1. This reduces the male spider 's reproductive potential .
- 2. Many spiders have evolved to live in or around water including the raft spider .
- 3. Autumn is spider breeding season .
- 4. A giant spider crab is illuminated by the lights of a submersible .
- 5. As I doffed the jacket , I copped the spider .