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Definition of "spider" []

  • Any of numerous arachnids of the order Araneae, having a body divided into a cephalothorax bearing eight legs, two poison fangs, and two feelers and an unsegmented abdomen bearing several spinnerets that produce the silk used to make nests, cocoons, or webs for trapping insects. (noun)
  • One that resembles a spider, as in appearance, character, or movement. (noun)
  • New England, Upper Northern, & South Atlantic U.S. See frying pan. See Regional Note at frying pan. (noun)
  • A trivet. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "spider" in a sentence
  • ""The spider," it is said, "taketh hold with her hands, and is in king's palaces;" and should a man have less perseverance than a _spider?"
  • "You know very well that even the word spider freaks me out."
  • "With limbs and tails splayed out in the canopy, the monkeys often look as though they have five limbs - thus the name spider monkey."