Spider Meaning
/ˈspaɪ̯də/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
nounA program which follows links on the World Wide Web in order to gather information.
Sentence Examples
The spider responds with a swift attack.
There the spider waits for small insects like butterflies and dragonflies to be trapped.
Have you ever seen a spider spinning its web?
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The eight-legged ____ carefully spun a delicate web to catch flying insects.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We saw a large black ____ spinning its intricate web in the corner of the attic this morning.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English spiþre, spydyr, spider, spiþer, from Old English spīþra (“spider”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”). Mostly displaced attercop (“spider, unpleasant person”), now a dialectal term. Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *mězgyrь (whence Russian мизги́рь (mizgírʹ)) (akin to Latvian mežģīt), Turkish örümcek (akin to örmek).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Little Miss Muffet, She sat on a tuffet, Eating of curds and whey; There came a little spider, Who sat down beside her, And frighted Miss Muffet away."
— 1805, Songs for the Nursery, page 23:
"Crawler-based search engines have three major elements. The first is the spider, also called the crawler, which visits a web page, reads it, and then follows links to other pages within the site."
— 2008, Alex Michael, Ben Salter, Marketing Through Search Optimization, Routledge, →ISBN, page xii:
"Consider investing in a frying basket or a spider for small amounts of fish. A spider looks like a metal web and has a long handle and can lower and raise fish from the hot oil."
— 2008, Anna Kasabian, David Kasabian, The Wild Fish Cookbook, Creative Publishing International, →ISBN, page 84:
"I am also disappointed with the horses, having hardly seen a decent pair yet, while the traps and horses do not look smart and well groomed. There are a great many American spiders used. Have not seen a bullock in the yoke yet."
— 1901 July 19, “To Australia and Back”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 10, page 298:
"The spider is very useful for shooting in the studio or on locations with smooth floors where tripod legs tend to slide."
— 1927, H. Mario Raimondo Souto, The Technique of the Motion Picture Camera, page 64:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The eight-legged ____ carefully spun a delicate web to catch flying insects.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We saw a large black ____ spinning its intricate web in the corner of the attic this morning.