spider

SPY-dur/ˈspaɪ̯dɚ/UKSPY-duh/ˈspaɪ̯də/

Pluralspiders

Verbspiders, spidering, spidered

20 meanings of spider

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1
eight legsnouncountable or uncountable
A small animal with eight legs that often spins a sticky web to catch insects.
Like a tiny eight-legged hunter that builds a sticky net to trap its food.
A spider spun its web across the open doorway overnight.
She found several spiders hiding behind the boxes in the basement.
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2
web botnouncountable or uncountable
A computer program that follows links across websites to collect information.
Like a robot that follows every path on a map and writes down what it finds.
The search engine uses a spider to find new pages.
These spiders visit millions of websites every day.
Similarcrawler
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3
scan websitesverbtransitive
To follow links across websites automatically in order to collect information.
Like walking through every door in a building to list what is in each room.
The program will spider the site to find broken links.
Search tools spider the web every single day.
Similarcrawl
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Less common meanings

4
spread (cracks)verbintransitive
To spread across a surface in thin lines, like a cobweb.
Like thin cracks spreading out across glass in a web shape.
Fine cracks spider across the old plaster ceiling.
Frost spidered over the window during the cold night.
UsageSay cracks spider across the glass.
Similarspread, radiate
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5
creepverbintransitive
To move with quick, crawling, leg-like motions like a spider.
Like scrambling up a wall with your hands and feet the way a spider scurries.
The children spider up the jungle gym at the park.
He spidered down the steep slope on his hands and feet.
UsageSay spider up, spider down or spider along.
Similarscramble, creep, crawl, scuttle
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6
wire scoopnouncountable or uncountable
A wide wire basket on a long handle, used to lift food out of hot oil or water.
Like a small net for scooping food out of bubbling oil.
She lifted the fries out of the fryer with a spider.
A spider works better than a slotted spoon for deep frying.
Similarskimmer
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7
lanky personnounslangcountable or uncountable
A very thin person with long arms and legs.
Like calling a tall, skinny person a 'beanpole'.
Her cousin is such a spider, all long arms and legs.
The tall, thin spider folded himself into the tiny car.
UsageYou can say a spider of a man. Be careful: it comments on someone's body.
Similarbeanpole
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8
spoked framenouncountable or uncountable
A part of a machine or tool with several arms coming out from the middle, like a spider's legs.
Like the spokes of a bicycle wheel reaching out from the middle to the rim.
The mechanic bolted the heavy wheel rim onto the spider.
A cracked spider had weakened the whole flywheel.
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9
cue restnouncountable or uncountable
A long stick with an arched, notched head that holds up the cue when the ball is too far to reach.
Like a little bridge you rest the stick on to reach something far away.
He used the spider to reach the ball near the far cushion.
The spider lets you play shots over the top of other balls.
Similarbridge
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10
ice cream floatnounAustraliaNew Zealandcountable or uncountable
A cold drink made by putting ice cream into soda or another fizzy drink.
Like a root beer float, but you can use any fizzy drink.
She ordered a spider with vanilla ice cream and lemonade.
We made spiders at home using cola and a scoop of ice cream.
UsageSay a lime spider. In other places it is called a float.
Similarfloat
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11
dartboard wiresnouncountable or uncountable
The set of thin metal wires that divide up the scoring areas on a dartboard.
Like the thin lines that cut a pie into separate slices.
His dart hit the spider and bounced off the board.
The spider keeps the scoring sections neatly apart.
12
three-legged pannoundialectalhistoricalcountable or uncountable
A cast-iron frying pan, originally made with three legs for cooking over an open fire.
Like a frying pan on little legs so it can stand over a fire.
Grandma fried the eggs in an old spider over the coals.
In spider pan or deep skillet set over hot coals, quickly fry a few at a time in deep lard until brown.
2005, Marty Davidson, Grandma Grace's Southern FavoritesHere, spider means a cast-iron frying pan.
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13
heroinnounslanguncountable
The addictive illegal drug heroin, sold on the street.
Similarsmack, junk, horse, dope, brown
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14
carriagenounobsoletecountable or uncountable
A light, fast horse-drawn carriage used long ago.
Like a small, speedy carriage, the sports car of its day.
He drove his spider down the lane behind a pair of grays.
The young lord raced his spider along the country road.
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15
nounobsoleteAustraliaNew Zealandcountable or uncountable
An old Australian and New Zealand drink of brandy topped up with ginger beer or lemonade.
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16
noununcountable
A card game for one player using two decks, where you line up each suit from king down to ace.
Grandpa plays spider on his computer every evening after dinner.
I almost won at spider, but I ran out of moves at the end.
UsageSay play spider, like play chess.
17
nounslang
A man who keeps approaching or pestering a woman in a bar or other public place.
18
noun
A tree shape where several paths all branch out from one central point.
19
nounEngland
A small fishing fly tied with soft feathers that move in the water.
20
noun
A bowls game where players stand around the green and each rolls one bowl toward the center, closest wins.

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Can you tell the meanings of spider apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from an old English word for spider, which came from an older word meaning "to spin."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Spider comes from an earlier English word for spider. en.wiktionary.org
That earlier word ultimately derives from a word meaning to spin. en.wiktionary.org