web
Pronunciation: (web), [key]
— n., v., webbed, web•bing.
—n.
- something formed by or as if by weaving or interweaving.
- a thin, silken material spun by spiders and the larvae of some insects, as the webworms and tent caterpillars; cobweb.
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- a woven fabric, esp. a whole piece of cloth in the course of being woven or after it comes from the loom.
- the flat woven strip, without pile, often found at one or both ends of an Oriental rug.
- something resembling woven material, esp. something having an interlaced or latticelike appearance: He looked up at the web of branches of the old tree.
- an intricate set or pattern of circumstances, facts, etc.: The thief was convicted by a web of evidence. Who can understand the web of life?
- something that snares or entangles; a trap: innocent travelers caught in the web of international terrorism.
- webbing.
- a membrane that connects the digits of an animal, as the toes of aquatic birds.
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- the series of barbs on each side of the shaft of a feather. See illus. underfeather.
- the series on both sides, collectively.
- an integral or separate part of a beam, rail, truss, or the like, that forms a continuous, flat, narrow, rigid connection between two stronger, broader parallel parts, as the flanges of a structural shape, the head and foot of a rail, or the upper and lower chords of a truss.
- an arm of a crank, usually one of a pair, holding one end of a crankpin at its outer end. See illus. under
- (in a vault) any surface framed by ribbing.
- a large roll of paper, as for continuous feeding of a web press.
- a network of interlinked stations, services, communications, etc., covering a region or country.
- a network of radio or television broadcasting stations.
- (cap.)World Wide Web.
—v.t.
- to cover with or as if with a web; envelop.
- to ensnare or entrap.
—v.i.
- to make or form a web.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.