Word: spider Part of Speech: noun Etymology: 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). Pronunciation: /ˈspaɪ̯də/, /ˈspaɪ̯dɚ/, [ˈspʌɪ̯ɾə(ɹ)] 1. Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. 2. A program which follows links on the World Wide Web in order to gather information. Labels: Internet, countable, uncountable Example: 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. 3. A float (drink) made by mixing ice-cream and a soda or fizzy drink (such as lemonade). Labels: Australia, New-Zealand, countable, uncountable Example: 2002, Katharine Gasparini, Cranberry and vanilla ice cream spider, recipe in Cool Food, page 339. 4. An alcoholic drink made with brandy and lemonade or ginger beer. Labels: Australia, New-Zealand, countable, obsolete, uncountable 5. A spindly person. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable 6. A man who persistently approaches or accosts a woman in a public social setting, particularly in a bar. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable 7. A stick with a convex arch-shaped notched head used to support the cue when the cue ball is out of reach at normal extension. Labels: countable, uncountable 8. A cast-iron frying pan with three legs, once common in open-hearth cookery. Labels: UK, US, countable, dialectal, historical, uncountable Example: Cut slices and lay them in cold water in the spider; boil them up two or three minutes, then pour off the water and set the spider again on the coals and brown the slices on each side. Example: In spider pan or deep skillet set over hot coals, quickly fry a few at a time in deep lard until brown. 9. Implement for moving food in and out of hot oil for deep frying, with a circular metal mesh attached to a long handle; a spider skimmer Labels: countable, uncountable Example: If you are deep-frying your falafel, use a spider or basket to place them gently into the hot oil, which should be preheated to a temperature of 175°C (330°F). Example: 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. 10. A part of a crank, to which the chainrings are attached. Labels: countable, uncountable 11. Heroin. Labels: slang, uncountable 12. Part of a resonator instrument that transmits string vibrations from the bridge to a resonator cone at multiple points. Labels: countable, uncountable 13. A skeleton or frame with radiating arms or members, often connected by crosspieces, such as a casting forming the hub and spokes to which the rim of a fly wheel or large gear is bolted; the body of a piston head; or a frame for strengthening a core or mould for a casting. Labels: countable, uncountable 14. A soft-hackle fly. Labels: England, countable, uncountable 15. The network of wires separating the areas of a dartboard. Labels: countable, uncountable 16. A spider graph or spider tree. Labels: countable, uncountable 17. A type of light phaeton. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: 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. 18. A support for a camera tripod, preventing it from sliding. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The spider is very useful for shooting in the studio or on locations with smooth floors where tripod legs tend to slide. 19. A competition in which several participants are spread evenly around the edges of the green, who all make one bowl towards the central jack at the same time; the winner being the person whose bowl ends up closest to the jack. Labels: countable, uncountable 20. A bit for turning fasteners with 8-pointed heads. Labels: countable, uncountable