# spider

Pronunciation: US say "SPY-dur" /ˈspaɪ̯dɚ/; UK/AUS say "SPY-duh" /ˈspaɪ̯də/

## Noun

1. Any of numerous predatory arthropods with eight legs that make up the order Araneae; many kinds spin webs to trap prey.
   - Simple: A small animal with eight legs that often spins a sticky web to catch insects.
   - _A garden spider waited motionless at the center of its dew-covered web._
   - _Most spiders inject venom to subdue the insects tangled in their silk._
2. A program that moves through the World Wide Web by following links, collecting information as it goes.
   - Simple: A computer program that follows links across websites to collect information.
   - _Engineers tuned the spider to index only pages updated in the last week._
   - _A poorly written spider can overload a small website with rapid requests._
6. A kitchen tool with a shallow wire-mesh basket on a long handle, used to lift and drain food from hot oil or water, or to skim broth.
   - Simple: A wide wire basket on a long handle, used to lift food out of hot oil or water.
   - _The cook lowered the dumplings into the oil with a spider and fished them out a minute later._
   - _When the fritters turn golden, lift them out of the bubbling oil with a spider and set them on a rack to drain._
7. A thin, lanky person whose long, spindly limbs suggest a spider's legs. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A very thin person with long arms and legs.
   - _He was a tall, bony spider of a man who had to duck through every doorway._
   - _She grew into a lanky spider, towering over her classmates._
8. A frame or part with several arms spreading out from a center, as in a flywheel, bicycle crank, tripod base or resonator guitar.
   - Simple: A part of a machine or tool with several arms coming out from the middle, like a spider's legs.
   - _Engineers cast the spider as a single piece so the flywheel spokes could bear high rotational stress._
   - _On a resonator guitar, the bridge rests on an aluminum spider that passes the string vibrations to the cone._
9. A rest with a convex, arch-shaped notched head, used to support the cue when the cue ball lies beyond normal reach.
   - Simple: A long stick with an arched, notched head that holds up the cue when the ball is too far to reach.
   - _She reached for the spider when the cue ball ended up against the back rail._
   - _Resting his cue on the spider, he calmly potted the long red._
10. A float made by mixing ice cream into a soda or other fizzy drink such as lemonade. *(Australia, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: A cold drink made by putting ice cream into soda or another fizzy drink.
   - _The cafe's lime spider arrived fizzing, with a melting scoop on top._
   - _On hot afternoons the kids begged for spiders from the corner shop._
11. The network of thin wires that separates the scoring sections of a dartboard.
   - Simple: The set of thin metal wires that divide up the scoring areas on a dartboard.
   - _The dart struck the spider and dropped to the floor without scoring._
   - _Thinner wires in the spider mean fewer frustrating bounce-outs._
12. A cast-iron frying pan, originally one with three legs for cooking over an open hearth. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: A cast-iron frying pan, originally made with three legs for cooking over an open fire.
   - _She set the spider over the glowing coals and dropped in the bacon._
   - _The hearth cook lifted the heavy spider by its long iron handle._
13. The addictive opioid drug heroin. *(slang)*
   - Simple: The addictive illegal drug heroin, sold on the street.
16. A solitaire game played with two decks of cards, in which each suit is stacked in a column from king down to ace and then taken off the table.
   - Simple: A card game for one player using two decks, where you line up each suit from king down to ace.
   - _She shuffled two decks together and dealt out a game of spider at the kitchen table._
   - _He finally cleared every column in spider after a dozen failed deals._

## Verb

3. To collect information by moving from link to link across the World Wide Web.
   - Simple: To follow links across websites automatically in order to collect information.
   - _They built a tool to spider thousands of news sites overnight._
   - _The bot spiders each page before storing its text for later searching._
4. To spread over a surface in a fine, web-like network of lines or cracks.
   - Simple: To spread across a surface in thin lines, like a cobweb.
   - _Thin fractures spider through the windshield where the stone struck._
   - _Veins of ice spidered across the pond overnight._
5. To move in the manner of a spider, creeping or scrambling with limbs splayed.
   - Simple: To move with quick, crawling, leg-like motions like a spider.
   - _The free climbers spider across the overhang with remarkable control._
   - _She spidered along the narrow ledge, gripping every crack as she went._

## Noun

14. A light, open horse-drawn carriage of the phaeton type. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A light, fast horse-drawn carriage used long ago.
   - _She kept a trim spider for quick trips into the village._
   - _He hitched the mare to the spider and set off at a brisk trot._
15. A mixed alcoholic drink made from brandy combined with lemonade or ginger beer. *(obsolete, Australia, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: An old Australian and New Zealand drink of brandy topped up with ginger beer or lemonade.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A man who won't leave a woman alone in a bar or other public social setting, approaching her again and again.
- (noun) In graph theory, a tree in which all paths radiate from a single central vertex; also called a spider tree.
- (noun) An artificial fishing fly of the soft-hackle type, dressed with a slim body and a few turns of soft, mobile feather fibers.
- (noun) A bowls contest in which players spaced evenly around the green each deliver one bowl toward the central jack at once, the bowl finishing closest to the jack winning.

## Origin

From Middle English spiþre and Old English spīþra ("spider"), going back through Proto-West Germanic to Proto-Germanic *spinnaną ("to spin"). It mostly replaced the older word attercop, now only used in some dialects.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/spider (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).