▪ I. web, n.
(wɛb)
Forms: 1 web, 1–2 webb, 3 weob, 3–8 webb, 4–5 veb(b, 4–7 webbe, 5–7 webe, 6 wabe, 3– web. Also Sc. and north. 6 vob, wobb(e, 6–9 wob, 7 woob, 8– 9 wab.
[OE. web(b neut., corresp. to OFris. web, wob (WFris. web, webbe, NFris. wêb, wäb), OS. webbi (MLG. and LG. webbe), MDu. and Du. webbe, web, OHG. wappi, weppi, webbi (MHG. weppe, webbe) neut., ON. vef-r masc. (genit. vefjar; Da. væv, Sw. väf):—OTeut. *wabjo-m, -z, f. *waƀ- ablaut-var. of *weƀ-: see weave v.1]
I. 1. a. A woven fabric; spec. a whole piece of cloth in process of being woven or after it comes from the loom. Also collect., woven stuff. Often as cognate obj. to weave.
Regularly used to translate L. tela.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) T 89, 90 Telum, web. Textrinum, webb. a 1050 Liber Scintill. (1889) 216 Tela consummatur filis, webb byþ ᵹefylled mid þrædum. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 39 Al swa nan webb ne mai bien iweuen wið-uten twa beames. a 1225 Ancr. R. 322 Wule a weob beon, et one cherre, mid one watere wel ibleched? c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 157 A webe to wewen. a 1340 Hampole Psalter 496 Þe wefand þat sheris down þe web are it be fulfild. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 92 Þenne I wussche hit [a new coat] weore myn, and al þe web aftur. 1382 Wyclif Job vii. 6 My daȝes swiftliere passiden than of the weuere the web is kut of. 1514 Act 6 Hen. VIII c, 9 §2 The Weaver..to restore..the Surplus of the same Yarn, if any shall be left not put into the same Web. 1546 Extracts Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 236 Ane vob of tartane, contenand x ellis. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. 38 b, Flaxe..being beaten to a softnesse, serueth for webbes of Linnen. 1629 Orkney Witch Trial in County Folk-Lore (1903) III. 78 Christane Reid in Clett cam in ane maid errand, seiking woft to ane wob. 1697 Dryden æneis ix. 633 Her Hand the Web forsakes. 1789 Burns Robin shure in hairst, I gaed up to Dunse, To warp a wab o' plaiden. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 835/2 The breast-bar, a smooth square beam in which there is an opening to let the web through as it is wove. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 81 A whole web or piece of calico is printed by them in three minutes. 1849 M. Arnold Sick King in Bokhara 8 Ye shall pay Each fortieth web of cloth to me, As the law is. 1854 Surtees Handley Cr. (1901) I. i. 5 Peter was dressed like his master—coat, waistcoat, and breeches of the same web. 1909 R. Law Tests of Life xv. 312 The pattern of the cloth is more clearly displayed in the web than in the patch. |
| in figurative context. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 114 Should I..recant now in mine aged years,..and as it were begin a new webbe? 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Oct. 102 Vnwisely weaues, that takes two webbes in hand. 1587 Greene (title), Penelope's Web. 1771 Wesley Jrnl. 6 Sept., How long shall we be constrained to weave Penelope's web? |
† b. ? A breadth of woven material. So
med.L.
tela,
OF. toile (Du Cange).
| c 1460 Invent. Sir J. Fastolfe in Archæologia XXI. 263, ij fustian Blanketts, every of hem vj webbys. 1465 Paston Lett. III. 435, ij. payr shytes of iij. webbys, ij. hedshytes of ij. webbys, vj. payre shytes of ij. webbys. |
c. transf. and
fig. Something likened to a woven fabric; something of complicated structure or workmanship. Also, the texture of such a fabric.
| 1599 A. Hume Hymns i. 10 Skarse nature yet my face about, Hir virile wob had spun. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 83 The webbe of our life is of a mingled yarne, good and ill together. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) To Rdr., Some there be who may object to the silly web of my stile. 1663 Charleton Chorea Gigant. 28 Having thus, thread after thread, unravell'd M{supr} Jones his long Web of Reasons, which he thought so closely and artificially woven, as to be strong enough to bind his Readers to a belief of his Opinion, that Stone-heng was a Roman Structure. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk., A Royal Poet I. 171 That passionate and fanciful amour, which has woven into the web of his story the magical hues of poetry and fiction. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. v. (1869) 122 The web and texture of the universe..is a mystery to them. 1860 Motley Netherl. I. i. 24 The web of diplomatic negotiation and court-intrigue which had been slowly spreading over the leading states of Christendom. 1894 Lady M. Verney Verney Mem. III. 108 Sir Ralph..is soon trying to disentangle the complicated web of John Denton's debts. 1917 O. Wildridge Captains & Co. xx. 235 His cheeks had a web of criss-cross wrinkles. |
d. Used for
warp.
lit. and
fig.| 1538 Elyot Dict., Liciatorium, a weauers shyttel, or a sylke womans tauell, wheron sylke or threde beinge wounden, is shot through the web or lome. a 1644 Quarles Sol. Recant. x. 51 How mungrell nature weaves Wisdome and Folly in the self-same Loome, Like webbe and woof. 1781 Cowper Expost. 331 He..Strikes the rough thread of error right athwart The web of ev'ry scheme they have at heart. 1862 Goulburn Pers. Relig. i. iv. (1873) 38 Service and prayer are the web and woof of the Christian life. 1883 Ogilvie, Web, locally, the warp in a loom. |
2. a. An article made of woven stuff (
e.g. a garment, tapestry, a winding-sheet). Also
collect. woven stuff of a particular material or pattern. Now chiefly literary or
arch. In
quot. c 1205
gode webbe app. represents
OE. godweb,
godeweb, ‘fine linen’, etc., the first element being
perh. interpreted as
= ‘good’.
| Beowulf 995 Goldfaᵹ scinon web æfter waᵹum. c 1205 Lay. 19947 Iscrud mid gode webbe. c 1275 Ibid. 22584 Þe king..caste on his rugge swiþe riche webbes. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 1523 All þe wawis withoute in webis of ynde. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 19 The riche Badkins, the coistlie veluot wobbis. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon iii. i. 992 If Phœbus tired in Latonas webs Came courting. 1757 Dyer Fleece ii. 540 What nation did not seek, Of thy new-modell'd wool, the curious webs? Ibid. iii. 59 A diff'rent spinning ev'ry diff'rent web Asks from your glowing fingers. 1791 Hamilton Berthollet's Dyeing I. 133 Common woollen stocking web. 1813 J. Thomson Inflammation 283 Linen cloth is the web on which the plaster is commonly spread. 1852 Thackeray Esmond iii. ix, Kneeling down at the bedside and kissing the sheets out of respect for the web that was to hold the sacred person of a King. 1867 Morris Jason vi. 477 With richest webs the marble walls were hung. 1871 Rossetti Staff & Scrip xxx, Fair flew my web [a banner]. 1883 R. Broughton Belinda ii. vii, Costly fabrics and dainty webs. |
† b. ? A kind of net for catching fish.
Obs.| 1533–4 Act 25 Hen. VIII, c. 7 To take or distroye in or by meanes of any wele..lepe hyve crele rawe webbe lister syer..the yonge frye..of any kynde of Salmon. |
† c. A bandana or large handkerchief.
Obs.| 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. iv. iv. 369 The waste cotton-shrub,..have ye not..made it into beautiful bandana webs? 1850 ‘Sylvanus’ Bye-lanes & Downs iv. 53 The inimitable web of cambric carefully folded. Ibid. vi. 74 The flash, reared up fellow, in the light blue pantaloons and huge web of satin round his neck! |
† d. pl. Stockinet pantaloons. ?
nonce-use.
| 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Sutherl. (Colburn) 27 Our tall friend in the webs. |
3. a. A band of material woven strongly without pile. Also
collect. = webbing.
Cf. girth-web.
| 1337–8 [see wame-tow]. 1395 [see wame-tow attrib.]. 1794 in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. (1918) 7 The Coffin was..lowered down with Ropes and Webb. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 115 Procure two yards, more or less, of web, of broad tape, or cloth listing. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 3841, Elastic gusset webs. Ibid. No. 4962 The elastic web is so placed as to allow the free rising of the instep. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Web 5. (Vehicle) Stout bands of textile fabric, used as straps to limit the extension of the hood. |
b. attrib. (and
Comb.). Made of webbing.
| 1844 Queen's Regul. Army 351 A web-headed halter with two reins. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer x, Have you no..breaking-bit, or web surcingle? 1915 ‘Ian Hay’ 1st Hund. Thou. viii, Sam Browne belts have been wisely discarded by the officers in favour of web-equipment. 1915 P. MacGill Amateur Army 100 Web-belts were cleaned, and every speck of mud and grease removed. |
4. a. A cobweb. Also applied to the filmy textures spun by some caterpillars. Also
collect. sing. So L.
tela, F.
toile.
| c 1220 Bestiary 468 Ðe spinnere..werpeð ðus hire web. a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxxxix. 10 As þe erayn makes vayn webbes forto take fleghis with gile. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. i. §3 Thi Riet shapen in manere of a net or of a webbe of a loppe. a 1400 Nominale (Skeat) 625 Vn teile de filaundre, A web of gossomer. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 23576 The place is not..Clenly kept with reuerence; For beforn, and ek behynde, Yraynes and webbes men may fynde. 14.. in W. of Henley's Husb. (1890) 55 Yeff ye se at morowe a dewe vpon þe grounde that is callid webe off arayne hongynge vpon þe grasse. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 219 Her bodye was..full of that laune wherof they make their webbes. 1606 N. B[axter] Sydney's Ourania G 3 b, Th' admirable Silke-worme Whose daintie webbe doth cloath potentates. 1718 Poor Robin Feb. A 5 b, Cut Caterpillars Webbs from Tops Of Twigs. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VIII. 22 Some [caterpillars] spin themselves a cone or web, in which they lie secure till they have arrived at maturity. 1823 Byron Juan x. lxxxiv, With a soft besom will I sweep your halls, And brush a web or two from off the walls. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 108 A gilded summer fly Caught in a great old tyrant spider's web. 1869 J. J. Weir in Trans. Entom. Soc. i. 21 Larvæ which spin webs..are eaten by birds, but not with avidity; they appear very much to dislike the web sticking to their beaks. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. xvii. 317 At the end of September..acres of furze may be seen covered with web in the morning. |
b. A single thread or line spun by a spider, used in optical instruments;
= cobweb n. 1 b.
| 1877 Ld. Lindsay & D. Gill in Dun Echt Observ. Publ. II. 11 The webs a, b, c, d, and f are all attached to the frame which is moved by the micrometer screw. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 248/1 A spider..is caught..and placed on a wire fork. The insect immediately attaches a web to the wire..This web is wound up on the fork till ten or twelve turns..have been secured. |
c. fig.;
esp. (
a) a subtly-woven snare or entanglement; (
b) something flimsy and unsubstantial; fanciful reasoning or the like.
Cf. cobweb n. 3.
When the spider is not indicated in the context, it is often difficult to decide whether the
quot. belongs here or to 1 c.
| 1574 Mirr. Mag., Q. Elstride xxvi, O wretched wight bewrapt in webbes of woe. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades i. i. 5 They taught that man..by his owne faulte,..brought into the worlde death and damnation, together with a webbe of miseries, out of whiche it can not ridde it selfe. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 169 With as little a web as this, will I ensnare as great a Fly as Cassio. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iv. §5. 19 The Schoole-men..did out of no great quantitie of matter, and infinite agitation of wit, spin out vnto vs those laborious webbes of Learning which are extant in their Bookes. 1672 Dryden 2nd Pt. Conq. Granada i. ii (end), I..Silk-worm⁓like, so long within have wrought, That I am lost in my own Webb of thought. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. I. Introd. 88 The law seemed only the web to ensnare the weak. 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge xxiii, He..felt that accident and artifice had spun a web about him. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn vi, He is entangled in a web of crime and guilt from which there is no escape. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 780 Who wove coarse webs to snare her purity, Grossly contriving their dear daughter's good. |
5. Paper-making, etc.
a. An endless wire-cloth working on rollers and carrying the pulp.
b. A large sheet or roll of paper made in this way.
c. A continuously moving plastic sheet or film.
| 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 369 A horizontal frame,..furnished with a roller or cylinder at each end, over which is stretched an endless web of brass wire, of the requisite texture or fineness for the paper about to be manufactured... The web proceeds slowly forward with a tremulous motion, which arranges and disperses the pulp regularly over the whole surface of the web. 1854 C. Tomlinson Obj. Art-Manuf., Paper 30 A continuous or endless web of wire cloth, stretched over two or more revolving rollers. 1854 Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts II. 263/1 An endless wire-cloth, over which the web of paper is formed. 1855 Herring Paper & Paper Making 76 The web, as it is termed by the paper-maker, being thus severed longitudinally. 1867 Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts III. 514/2 White paper, supplied by the paper⁓maker in large rolls of web, about 18 inches in diameter. 1958 E. G. Fisher Extrusion of Plastics vii. 96 The sheet passes through one or two pairs of nip rolls which draw the web through the take-off. 1974 J. H. Briston Plastics Films xv. 191 The web of material is controlled at all stages of the wrapping operation and cut-off only takes place when the product has been fully enclosed. |
II. 6. a. A tissue or membrane in an animal body or in a plant. Also applied to similar pathological formations.
| c 1290 St. Michael 720 in S. Eng. Leg. 320 A smal weob it [the fœtus] bicluppez al aboute, to holden it togadere faste. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. i. (Tollemache MS.) Sumtyme an ey haþ twey ȝolkes, þat ben distingued a tuo by on webbe and call [una tela]. 1541 Copland Guydon's Quest. Cyrurg. E iij b, The sayde webbe or tunycle called Rethina. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Ear, A delicate Web, that lines the Vestibulum, Cochlea, &c. 1807 J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 324 The five filaments of the Celosia, Cock's-comb, are connected at their lower part by a membranous web. a 1827 Good Study Med. (1829) III. 511 When these sinuosities are first formed or scooped out, their walls are soft, irritable, and of the common cellular web. 1899 Syd. Soc. Lex., Web, in Anat., any membrane-like, semi-transparent structure. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 812 Chronic stenosis of the larynx,..due to..the formation of membranous webs. |
| attrib. 1876 tr. E. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. 167 The circulation in the web-membrane is retarded after closure of the femoral artery. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 812 Cicatricial web formations [in the larynx] should be divided by cutting dilators. |
b. The omentum or caul of cattle.
| 1808 Jamieson, Web, the covering of the entrails, the cawl, or omentum, apparently denominated from its resemblance to something that is woven. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v., ‘The web of the body’; the omentum. 1842 J. Aiton Domest. Econ. (1857) 212 Meal is understood to darken the flesh, web, and lights of the animal [a calf]. |
† 7. a. A thin white film or opacity growing over the eye; a kind of cataract, albugo, leucoma, or pterygium. Also
pin and web: see
pin n.1 11. Also
fig. Obs.| 1387 T. Usk Test. Love i. ii. 180 That hath caused my cominge in-to this prison, to voyde the webbes of thyne eyen, to make thee clerely to see the errours thou hast ben in. 1388 Wyclif Tobit vi. 9 To anoynte iȝen, in whiche is a web. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xvi. (1495) 234 Another euyll of the eyen we calle a webbe and Constantin calleth it Albugo and Pannus. c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xii, Sometyme commeth to þe houndes sekenes in hir eyenn, for þer commeth a webbe vpon hem and waxynge flesshe. 1464 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 280 For a webbe and a pynne in yhe. 1538 Elyot Dict., Suffusio, a webbe in the eye. c 1575 Perf. Bk. Kepinge Sparhawkes (1886) 31 Pyn or Web or other dymnes by strokes &c. must be spedely loked unto. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 28 If a horsse haue a web in his eye. 1622 Banister Treat. Eyes vi. iii. H 8, Of the webbe or cataract, called in Greeke, hypochyma, in Latin, suffusio, gutta, aqua, imaginatio. a 1638 Mede Wks. (1672) 645 Lord! that the whole strain of Scripture..should not cure this web, and take this filme from the eyes of men! 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 67 Drop a drop or two at a time into the Eye, and it takes away all..Spots, Webs, or any other Disorder whatever. a 1827 Good Study Med. (1829) IV. 220 This opacity [caligo], as well as the pterygium, was denominated a ‘web of the eye’, from its giving the idea of a film spreading across the sight. |
† b. gen. A crust or film.
Obs.| 1594 Plat Jewell Ho. i. 61 [The candle] alwayes supporting it selfe aboue the water, by a thin crust or webbe, which it worketh about the flame in the nature of Camphire. |
8. a. The membrane or fold of skin which connects the digits of an animal;
esp. that which connects the toes of an aquatic bird or beast, forming a palmate foot.
| 1576 Turberv. Venerie lxxiii. 201 They [sc. otters] are footed like a Goose: I meane they haue a webbe betweene theyr clawes. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) II. 533 The lower part of the toes and webs black. Ibid. 548 Mr. Ray calls this a cloven-footed gull; as the webs are depressed in the middle, and form a crescent. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. IV. 150 Each foot [of the otter] is furnished with five toes, connected by strong broad webs like those of water fowl. 1813 J. Thomson Inflammation 77 The capillary vessels in the web of the foot of the frog. 1842 Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 269 Like some full-breasted swan That..takes the flood With swarthy webs. 1894 Crockett Raiders xxvi. 226 My hands pricked at the thin fine skin between the fingers that we call the webs. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 865 The burrows [of the itch insect] will generally be found in the webs between the fingers and toes. |
b. Path. An extension of the normal fold which occurs as a congenital malformation in the human hand or foot.
| 1866 Barwell in Med. Press 25 Apr. 416 On examining the fingers I found them connected together, not merely by a thin web, but by a thick layer of tissue covered..by skin from corresponding parts of the fingers. 1876 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. (ed. 2) II. 300 When the fingers are well formed, the Surgeon should, if possible, divide the web. |
9. The series of barbs on each side of the shaft of a bird's feather; the vane or vexillum.
| 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. vii. i. 375 note, The Mechanism of the Vanes, or Webs of the Feathers. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) II. 590 The greater quil feathers are black; the exterior webs of the next are a fine green. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. I. 216 First feather of the tail white, with a black square spot on the interior web. 1837 Gould Birds Europe V. Pl. 372 The shaft and the narrow inner web white; the outer web broad and deep bluish black. 1893 Gadow in Newton Dict. Birds 239 The rami, radii, and cilia compose the inner and outer web, vane, or vexillum of the feather. |
III. 10. a. A sheet of lead, such as is used for roofing and for coffins. ?
Obs. Cf. med.L.
tela plumbi:
1312 Acc. Exch. K.R. 492/18 m. 2 (P.R.O.).
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur xxi. xi. 857 After she was put in a webbe of leed & than in a coffyn of marbyl. 1489 in Peck Desid. Curiosa (1735) II. vii. 10 For the Balmynge, Fencyng and Scowering of the Corse, with the Webbe of Led and Chest. 1555 Inv. Ch. Goods York etc. (Surtees 97) 152 Leade. In the covering upon the same colledge M{supl}Dxiiij square yerdes of webbe. 1577 in Assoc. Archit. Soc. Rep. (1866) VIII. 301 One webb of Lead liynge in the gutter within the said battlement cont. in lenght iijxx. yardes and in bredth one yarde. 1600 Fairfax Tasso x. xxvi, And there with stately pompe by heapes they wend, And Christians slaine rolle vp in webs of lead. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxi. vi. II. 411 Those pipes be called properly in Latin Denariæ, the web or sheet whereof beareth ten fingers in breadth. 1660 Churchw. Acc. Pittington etc. (Surtees) 197 For taking upp the high roofe of the leades and laying the webbs againe. 1852 R. Burn Naval & Mil. Dict. ii. s.v., Web of lead, feuille de plomb. |
† b. A quantity of glass.
Cf. way n.2 Obs. 11. The piece of bent iron which forms a horseshoe.
| 1587 L. Mascall Cattle, Horses (1596) 156 Make your shooes with a broade webbe. 1639 T. de Grey Compl. Horsem. 111 That no gravell be remaining betwixt the web of the shoo and the sole. 1725 Bradley's Family Dict. s.v. Shoeing, The Shoe must be made of Spanish Iron, with a broad Web, fitting it to the Hoof. 1831 Youatt Horse xvii. 312 The inside part of the web is bevelled off, or rendered concave, that it may not press upon the sole. 1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 227 The whole of the substance of the shoe is called the ‘web’. |
12. † a. The blade of a sword or of a carpenter's plane; the iron head of an axe or hatchet.
Obs.| 1600 Fairfax Tasso ii. xciii, A sword, whereof the web was steele. Ibid. vii. xciv, The brittle web of that rich sword. 1676 Depos. Cast. York (Surtees) 223 This informant got hold of the head or web of the ax. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. R 3 b, This [Rudder] we use to let in the ends of Sliders, or Headtrees, where the Web of the Hack is too short for the purpose. 1812 P. Nicholson Mech. Exerc., Joinery 204 Web of an Iron, is the broad part of it which comes to the sole of the plane, the upper edge or end of the web has generally one shoulder, and sometimes two, where it joins the tang. |
b. (See
quot.)
| 1784 J. Small Ploughs 13 The web may be three inches broad at the broadest, and taper from a foot down all the way to the point. 1819 Rees Cycl., Web of a Coulter,..that part of it which is drawn out thin and sharp, in order to cut and separate the ground... In the sock, too, any thin sharp part has the name of web or wing. |
c. The detachable long narrow blade of a frame-saw or fret-saw.
Cf. web-saw.
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 330 It [the Grecian saw] consists of a square frame, having in the middle a blade or web, the teeth of which stand perpendicular to the plane of the frame. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning, etc. II. 725 The mill-saw webs [are used] for cutting deals into thin boards. 1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 508/1 The Ribbon-saw..consists of a very long band—or web, as it is called—of steel, usually very narrow, and with finely-cut teeth. |
13. The bit of a key; also, each of the ‘steps’ or incisions in this.
| 1773 W. Emerson Princ. Mech. (ed. 3) 284 Web, the thin broad part of an instrument, as the web of a key. 1800 Trans. Soc. Arts XVIII. 241 So that the webs or bits of the Key may clear the Tumblers in the lock. 1856 Jrnl. Brit. Archæol. Assoc. XII. 125 This key has a solid or blank web. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6105, The ‘bits’ or steps on the ‘web’ of the key, that act on the levers inside the lock. |
14. a. The vertical plate (or its equivalent) which connects the upper and lower laterally-extending plates in a beam or girder. Also applied to each of these lateral plates or flanges. Also, a longitudinal vertical member joining the upper and lower components of a wooden rib, spar, or beam in an aircraft.
| 1851 Dempsey Builder's Guide 144 The two [flanges of the girder] are united by a vertical rib or web of just sufficient thickness to connect the flanges properly. 1856 Min. Proc. Inst. Civ. Engin. XV. 155 On the Relative Proportions of the Top, Bottom, and Middle Webs of Iron Girders and Tubes. 1862 Smiles Engineers III. 409 Cast-iron girders, with their lower webs considerably larger than their upper, were ordinarily employed where the span was moderate. 1870 B. Baker Strengths of Beams etc. 290 The experiments on the model tube for the Britannia bridge indicated clearly that diagonal strains, both compressive and tensile, occurred in the webs of the tube. 1877 W. H. White Nav. Archit. ix. 333 So long as the beam is in one piece, or so long as the pieces forming its web are well connected together edgewise, there is no difficulty in meeting this racking strain. 1892 Dict. Arch. (Arch. Publ. Soc.), Web. The iron plate, fixed vertically, in a single web girder; or two plates in a tubular girder. 1909 Flight 11 Sept. 553/2 The rib for a double-surfaced deck [sc. wing] is more elaborate in construction, and is itself stiffened with ‘webs’. 1918 Ibid. 25 July 830/2 Each of the spars is built up of spruce flanges, connected on front and rear faces by three-ply webs, the whole forming a box. 1919 Pippard & Pritchard Aeroplane Struct. xvii. 199 The load is transmitted by shear across the web portion of the rib, and so this portion must be very strongly attached to the web of the spar. 1962 Flight Handbk. (ed. 6) iii. 45 Platz's wing employed box spars with plywood sides (webs) and heavier wooden tops and bottoms (booms). |
b. The upright portion between the tread and the bottom flange of a rail.
† Formerly applied to the tread and the bottom flange (
upper web,
lower web); also to the upright ridge of an edge-rail.
| 1838 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 169/1 The lower web is, in some examples, not so wide as the upper web by nearly half an inch. 1840 H. S. Tanner Canals & Rail Roads U.S. 156 Which lip extends upwards and laps over the lower web of the rails on that side. Ibid. 264 Web, the outer projection of a rail, intended to prevent the wheels of carriages from running off the track. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 225/1 There was a waste of metal in these early rails..owing to the excessive thickness of the vertical web. |
c. The arm of a crank, connecting the shaft and the wrist.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1884 Manch. Exam. 27 Aug. 4/7 Cranks having the additional strength provided by an increase of metal in the webs of the crank itself. 1889 Hasluck Model Engin. Handybk. 79 It is best to turn the shaft and outsides of the crank webs first; the insides and the pin can be turned after. |
d. The thinner part of an anvil, between the head and the base.
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 120/2 Body or web of the anvil. |
e. (See
quot.)
| 1908 Paasch Dict. Naval Terms (ed. 4) 770 Web,..that part of a boat-oar, between the blade and the loom. |
f. In a sheave (see
quot.).
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 153 Web, the thin partition on the inside of the rim, and between the spokes of an iron sheave. |
g. A solid disc connecting the centre and the rim of a wheel, instead of spokes.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Web 3. That portion of a car⁓wheel which extends between the hub and the rim. Ibid. s.v. Web-wheel, Clock and watch wheels are cast or stamped with webs and then crossed out. |
h. pl. Snow-shoes.
N. Amer.| 1923 Beaver Jan. 145 It is said they still enjoy an occasional zestful tramp on the ‘webs’ over leagues of new Manitoba snow. 1939 K. Pinkerton Wilderness Wife ix. 103 After breakfast we went out to slip on our webs. 1966 M. E. & O. Murie Wapiti Wilderness xviii. 223 Snowshoes, or ‘webs’ as the Jackson Hole people call them, were the tried and true aids. |
15. The basketwork of a gabion.
| 1852 R. Burn Naval & Mil. Dict. ii. s.v., Web of a gabion, hurdle, &c., clayonnage. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 255 Gabions are..2 feet 9 inches high, in the web. |
16. Mining. (See
quots.)
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Web, the face or wall of a long-wall stall in course of being holed and broken down for removal. The web varies in thickness (according to the height of the seam) from 2 or 3 to 7 feet. Fig. 135 shows a cross-section of a long-wall with a web of coals after drawing the timber. 1886 J. Barrowman Sc. Mining Terms 51 Plane, a working room driven at right angles to or facing the plane joints. Ibid. 72 Web, the plane. |
17. Math. A tangential net.
| 1911 Webster s.v. Net, But if [represented] in line co⁓ordinates, the net is tangential or a web. |
IV. 18. Comb., as
web-like adj.; objective, as
web-spinning adj.; similative, as
websoft adj.;
web-fed a. Printing = reel-fed adj. s.v. reel n.1 6;
web-fingered a., having the fingers united for a considerable part of their length by a fold of skin; also, applied to a fish,
Prionotus carolinus or
palmipes;
web-frame, (
a) the frame to which the spider-threads are attached in a filar micrometer; (
b) in iron ship-building (see
quot.);
† web-garn [
garn n.], weaver's yarn;
† web-lace (see
quot.);
web-lead, sheet-lead;
† web-loom, a weaver's loom;
web-machine, a printing machine which is automatically supplied with paper from a roll or web (see 5);
web-nest, a filmy tissue enclosing a group of certain caterpillars or web-spinners (sense b);
cf. web-worm;
web offset, offset lithographic printing on a continuous reel of paper (
cf. sense 5 b);
freq. attrib.;
web-(perfecting) press = web-machine;
web-plate (see
quot. 1908);
web-printing, printing on a web-press;
web-saw, a frame-saw;
web-spinner, (
a) a web-spinning spider; (
b) a brownish gregarious insect of the order Embioptera, the females of which are wingless;
† web-stand, a folding tray-stand with a top composed of strips of webbing;
web-toed a., web-footed;
web-weaver, in
quots. applied to a spider;
web-wheel (see
quot. and 14 g);
web-work, a tissue like that of a woven fabric; also
fig.;
web-worked a., worked with cobweb;
web-worker, a spider that spins a web;
web-worm U.S., a name for various lepidopterous larvæ which are more or less gregarious and spin large webs in which they feed or rest. Also
web-beam, -foot, -footed.
| 1949 Melcher & Larrick Printing & Promotion Handbk. 358/1 Newspapers are printed on *web-fed rotary presses. 1965 Zigrosser & Gaehde Guide Coll. Orig. Prints iv. 73 In the rotogravure process the plate is in the form of a copperplated cylinder, functioning in a web-fed rotary press for long and speedy runs of printing. |
| 1781 Bland in Phil. Trans. LXXI. 362 Of these [children] 1 was *web-fingered. 1844 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. XLVII. 59 Prionotus Carolinus, Cuv., Web-fingered Grunter. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 137/1 He was, it is said, web-footed, naturally, and partially web-fingered. 1873 T. Gill Catal. Fishes E. Coast N. Amer. 21 Prionotus carolinus..Web-fingered sea-robin; Carolina robin. |
| 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 248/2 As the *web-frame is generally thicker than the fork, the web will now be stretched across the former, with a certain amount of tension. 1898 Kipling Day's Work 81 A huge web-frame by the main cargo-hatch. 1908 Paasch Dict. Naval Terms (ed. 4) 81 Web-frames consist of strong plates fitted transversally to the frames to which they are riveted... They serve for extra strength or in lieu of hold-beams, etc. |
| 1440 York Memo. Bk. (Surtees) I. 78 That noon of the said craft shal make no capez of *webb garn nother blew ne meld nor noon other collour. |
| 1801 Felton Carriages (ed. 2) II. Gloss., *Webb Lace, a thick coarse kind of lace, mostly used for footman holders. |
| 1894 Athenæum 14 Apr. 482/3 The casting of *web lead for roofs. |
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 390 This *web-like expansion of the ethereal strings. 1815 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. ii. (1818) I. 31 The web-like nests [of the larva of Bombyx chrysorrhœa] which so often deform our fruit trees. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 29 Dec. 3/3 The silk Chantilly laces..are..very pretty and weblike. |
| 1316 in Rock Text. Fabr. (1870) 96 Pro *weblomes emptis, xxs. 1404 Rec. Borough Nottingham 27 Aug. II. 22 Appretiatores unius wollyn weblome cum uno cam et j. slay. |
| 1884 West. Daily Press 16 Sept. 5/6 The splendid *web machines now in use. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab., Web machines, cylindrical printing machines in which the paper is laid on by tapes. |
| 1895 W. Schlich Man. Forestry IV. 279 The caterpillars, enclosed in the common *web-nest, first gnaw the upper side of the leaves. 1903 Biol. Bull. IV. 100 They [sc. Embiidæ] still spin their web-nests. |
| 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 May 296/3 America, the land of newspapers on the giant scale,..is making great strides..with *web-offset colour on newsprint. 1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset xv. 238 Web offset can be defined as a method of lithographic printing in..one or more colours on one or both sides of a web of paper in a single operation. 1981 Printing World 28 Jan. 13/1 It was printed on a new Timson T32 web offset press. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., s.v. Web Printing-machine, A *web perfecting-press. 1887 Harper's Mag. July 176/1 The web perfecting press, containing two printing cylinders, printing both sides of the paper. |
| 1878 Schiller's Technol. Dict. III, Web, *Web-plate (Iron ship-b.). 1908 Paasch Dict. Naval Terms (ed. 4) 103 Web-plate. Term given to a plate of great breadth and thickness, as for instance to one forming a shifting-beam in a hatchway. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., s.v. Web Printing-machine, The *web-press is a late improvement. |
| 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 198 Printing from continuous paper is known as ‘*web-printing’, ‘roll-printing’ or ‘reel-printing’. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Web-saw. 1889 Century Mag. Jan. 418/2 The web-saw, the glue-pot, the plane, and the hammer are the principal tools used. |
| a 1915 Joyce Giacomo Joyce (1968) 7, I hold the *websoft edges of her gown. |
| 1923 Jrnl. & Proc. R. Soc. Western Australia IX. i. 61 The Order Embioptera, or *Web-spinners, is a small but very distinct and isolated group of insects. 1941 J. S. Huxley Uniqueness of Man ix. 193 In the spiders, we find a very interesting difference between the hunters and the web-spinners. 1944 Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. XCIV. 401 (title) A revision of the Embioptera, or web-spinners, of the New World. 1972 Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. vi. 85 Embiids or Webspinners..occur mostly in the tropics and sub⁓tropics. |
| 1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions v. 57 This was no *web-spinning, sedentary spider. 1946 Nature 2 Nov. 630/2 The web-spinning Tineid caterpillar..is usually an inhabitant of hawthorn bushes. |
| 1837 Fraser's Mag. XV. 435 A large tray of glasses..stood in the room on a *web stand. |
| 1872 Mivart Anat. 236 In some cases these folds extend far along, binding the digits together, and causing the person so affected to be what is called ‘web-fingered’ or ‘*web-toed’. 1884 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) 622 Macrorhamphus. Web-toed Snipe. |
| 1550 Bale Apol. 15 b, It hath bene so handeled and tosed amonge the spyders *webbe weuers of Babylon..that it is become moche larger both in length and bredthe than afore. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. xxxvii. 31 The instinct of a crippled spider so completely changed, that from a sedentary web-weaver it became a hunter. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Web-wheel, a wheel in which the hub and rim are connected by a web or plate, which is sometimes intact and sometimes perforated... The term is applied in contradistinction to one with spokes. |
| 1790 R. Merry Laurel of Liberty (ed. 2) 10 A *web-work of despair, a mass of woes. 1812 [see venomed ppl. a. 2 c]. 1862 Lytton Str. Story II. 199 The tyro who dissects the webwork of tissues and nerves in the dead. |
| 1874 J. T. Moggridge Suppl. to Harvesting Ants 200 A glutinized, *web-worked purse, about three inches long. |
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1071 All Net-workers, and *Web-workers amongst Spiders. |
| 1841 T. W. Harris Insects Inj. Vegetation (1862) 357 The little caterpillars known by the name of fall *web-worms, whose large webs..may be seen on our native elms, and also on apple and other fruit trees, in the latter part of summer. 1885 Manch. Exam. 14 July 4/5 The webworm..did considerable damage to the stands. 1896 E. G. Lodeman Spraying of Plants 256 Fall Web-worm (Hyphantria cunea). Ibid. 325 Web-worm (Depressaria heraclina). Ibid. 352 Privet Web-worm (Margarodes quadristigmalis). |
Add:
[I.] [1.] e. U.S. A radio or television broadcasting network.
| 1932 Variety 30 Aug. 49/5 A chain, for instance, may sell a commercial, say a link of 25 stations. In this web there may be 15 stations that are regarded as having the class appeal in their communities. 1934 Newsweek 20 Oct. 30/3 Now king-pin of the nation's third largest air web, WMCA is out for bigger game. 1944 Collier's 9 Sept. 55/2 Antonio was poco agitato when he had to work as pancake turner on the Green web. 1962 Variety 5 Sept. 21/4 CBS Radio's proposed cutback in entertainment shows..is expected to be acted on, by the time the web's yearly affil meet concludes. 1990 Fortune Nov. 95/1 Barely three weeks into the season, the webs—TV-speak for the broadcast networks—were pulling the rip cord on new shows. |
f. Any complex system or network of which the component parts are structurally interconnected. Chiefly
U.S.| 1946 Funk's New Pract. Stand. Dict. II. 1482/1 Web,..any complex network; as, a web of highways. 1978 Lancashire Life Mar. 115/1 They moved to Oldham because it is at the hub of the northern motorway web. 1978 Sci. Amer. Oct. 101/1 Oxygen in the atmosphere, in water, in rocks and in living organisms passes continually through an interlocking web of chemical cycles. 1986 V. Seth Golden Gate xi. 252 And inside half an hour, Thanks to the awesome branching power Of Ma Bell's web, the fourth hand news Hits Jan. 1989 Sci. Amer. July 57/1 Organizing chunks of information into nonlinear webs also appears to be well suited for managing highly complex projects. |
▸
Computing. Usu. with capital initial. Chiefly with
the.
= World Wide Web n.| 1993 Online Libraries & Microcomputers (Nexis) 1 Jan. As with other navigational tools such as Gopher and WAIS..developments with the Web are in a dynamic state of change. 1993 Guardian (Nexis) 11 Nov. 19 The Web is based on the idea of hypertext. 1994 Economist 22 Jan. 86/2 The web employs a technology known in the trade as hypermedia. Hypermedia makes it easy to combine text, graphics, sound and even video into a single electronic document. 1994 Amer. Scientist Oct. 418/1 The first components of the system were working by 1991, but the Web did not begin to spread outside the high-energy physics community until 1993. 1995 N.Y. Times 24 Jan. c8/3 Some people believe the Web is the most important advance in publishing since the printing press. 1999 Yahoo! Internet Life Dec. 128/1 As legislators look to find some way to control the Web, they have latched on to everything from censorship to cybersquatting. |
▸
Computing. In compounds associated with the World Wide Web.
Originally written with a capital initial,
web compounds are now increasingly written with a lower-case
w. Since it is difficult to make an objective judgement about the dominant capitalization in particular cases and the evidence is changing too rapidly for such a judgement to be of any lasting value to the reader, the compounds below have been routinely presented with a lower case
w irrespective of the quotation evidence.The patterns of attachment are less inscrutable. The relative dominance of one-word, hyphenated, and two-word forms is in general governed by the status of the second element. Those compounds in which
web is combined with a word occurring independently as a common noun are most frequently written as two words (
web page,
web site). Blends with parts of other words are typically rendered as one word (
webliography,
webzine). Hyphenation occurs most consistently where the second element is an adjective or is frequently found in compound formations (
web-aware,
web-based,
web-enabled).
a. General
attrib., as
web access,
web address,
web design,
web designer,
web developer,
web publisher,
web publishing,
web surfer,
web surfing, etc.
Some of the most common compounds appear as headwords: see
webcam n.,
webcast n.,
webcasting n.,
webliography n.,
webmaster n.,
webmeister n.,
web site n.,
webzine n.| 1994 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 12 Mar. d13 ANIMA's Web address is http://wimsey.com/anima/ANIMAhome.html. 1994 PC Mag. (Nexis) July 30 Cultivating a Web presence was a major pain. 1994 Network Computing 1 Aug. 156 (heading) Essential Web Surfing. 1994 InfoWorld (Nexis) 18 July 20 PLS' Home page lets Web surfers test PLServer. 1994 Newsbytes (Nexis) 21 Sept. Information Dimensions Inc...has announced Basis Webserver, its World Wide Web (WWW or Web) publishing product. 1994 Digital Media (Nexis) 5 Oct. 19 This company should help CompuServe keep its content providers in the fold by offering Web publishing services as well as a place on the commercial CompuServe network. 1994 Design Week (Nexis) 18 Nov. 12 It is already common for web publishers to solicit feedback via fill-in forms and to create one-off web pages in response to this feedback. 1995 Open Syst. Today (Nexis) 6 Feb. 38 Some may argue that it is better Web design to break up large files into multiple smaller ones that are linked back to the main document. 1995 Shoot (Nexis) 10 Mar. 14 We created our site..to illustrate how web sites can be developed... We want to be recognized as a premier web designer. 1995 Internet World Aug. 23/1 Many, if not most, Web documents are composed of a combination of text and inline images. 1996 Business Week 26 Feb. 82/1 A program called Jasmine..uses object-oriented software to create custom Web applications. 1996 Internet World Apr. 44/2 You can complete your Web development without involving the server administrator. 1996 Guardian 25 Apr. (Online Suppl.) 13/2 The two key roles for contractors which are emerging are Web authors and Webmasters. 1997 Internet Mag. Jan. 22/4 If I was a new user wanting Web space with my own domain name, Pipex would ask {pstlg}180 per year for the dial-up account. 1997 Web Aug. 31/1 Sure, Web developers should be up on all the latest gnarly new apps. 1998 New Scientist 7 Feb. 7/3 Some Web designers are already using XML to create pages. 1998 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Kentucky) 15 June f1/5 Web surfers are looking for a little cybersex entertainment, and the anonymity of the Internet lets them feel more comfortable exploring sexual topics. 1999 Wired Mar. 88/3 As much as 27 percent of corporate Web traffic is not business-related. 1999 NewMedia Sept. bs4/2 Web access makes it possible for clients, brand managers, and designers to interact electronically through the various stages of an asset's design. 2000 Irish Times (Electronic ed.) 21 Feb. It is certainly an interesting phenomenon for a 40-year-old cramnotes brand to take on web publishing. 2000 Times (Electronic ed.) 18 Nov. (heading) Rush likely for ‘dotty’ new web address. |
b. Instrumental and parasynthetic, as
web-aware,
web-based,
web-centric,
web-ready adjs., etc.
| 1994 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 3 Apr. 1 [He] displayed a Web-based magazine created by a student in Japan–working alone in a tiny Tokyo apartment. 1994 Windows Sources (Nexis) Feb. 60 Microsoft's new SGML authoring add-on for Word is the easiest way to get your documents in shape for the Internet... One of the included templates also builds a Web-ready HTML document. 1995 InfoWorld (Electronic ed.) 18 Dec. The database will also gain connections to Web servers that will make development of Web-aware client/server applications easier. 1997 J. Seabrook Deeper vii. 238 Imagining these Web-savvy youngsters going about their work, I thought of the Tony Curtis character in Sweet Smell of Success. 1998 Wired Apr. 102/2 Web-based streaming-media technologies already make possible live telecasts to audiences as big as 50,000 people at a cost per viewer lower than cable. 1998 PC Week 11 Aug. 14/4 For the Web-aware, 1-2-3 allows you to choose a Web page and import an HTML table as linked information. 2000 Wall St. Jrnl. 18 Sept. r19/5 Today 90% of our customers are Web-centric customers buying Web-centric services. 2001 Sunday Times (Nexis) 11 Feb. Coaching..includes reverse mentoring, in which junior, web-wise staff show senior managers how to use the internet. |
▸
web author n. (also with capital initial)
Computing a person who designs and creates web sites; (also) a person who updates or maintains a web site.
| 1994Opportunity: Mosaic App's Developer & Server Manager in chi.jobs (Usenet newsgroup) 28 Sept. Opportunity for a young, energetic, multitalented *web author to join a recently formed team of professionals to devlop custome [sic] web sites for dedicated user groups. 1998 Watt's On Freshers 98 8/1 (advt.) We require a web author to update our pages, help teach other people how to make web pages, and to help maintain our computer systems. 2007G. Williams in M. J. Cormack & N. Hourigan Minority Lang. Media vi. 101 XML enables all web authors to create their own tags or hidden labels that annotate web pages or sections of text. |
▸
web authoring n. (also with capital initial)
Computing the process of designing and creating web sites;
freq. attrib., designating software for use in this process.
| 1994WWW Service Provider List in comp.infosystems.www.providers (Usenet newsgroup) 31 Aug. Setup Cost: Hourly cost for web authoring: $50. No setup cost for pre-authored pages. 1997 S. H. Budman & B. N. Steenbarger Essent. Guide Group Pract. in Mental Health v. 181 It should be noted that Web authoring tools have become quite user-friendly and are now built into several major word processing programs. 2003 College Composition & Communication 54 651 Students can then create their own graphics and import them into a Web authoring program to be combined with links and other interactive features. 2007 Independent (Nexis) 11 Aug. (Information section) 3 Simplicity is key and the program sets up your website without any knowledge of web authoring. |
▸
web browser n. ((also with capital initial)) a program used to navigate the World Wide Web by connecting to a web server, allowing the user to locate, access, and display hypertext documents;
cf. browser n.| [1993 Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery 36 14/2 This is a networked information system and World Wide Web browser that retrieves text, images, sound, and animations stored at sites around the world.] 1994 PC Week (Nexis) 31 Jan. 71 CERN also distributes public-domain software for setting up a server and library routines for clients (usually called *Web browsers). 2000 Times 7 Aug. (Interface section) 7/1, I am living proof of how easy it is for the independent traveller, with a web-browser to hand, to arrange a last-minute holiday in August. |
▸
web crawler n. Computing (a) = spider n. (in form
Webcrawler, a proprietary name in the United States);
(b) a person who (habitually) uses or browses the Internet, a web surfer.
| 1994Re: REQUEST: Site for Comet/Jupiter Collisions in comp.infosystems.www.users (Usenet newsgroup) 16 June *Web Crawler. 1994Re: Managing Growing History File in comp.infosystems.www.misc (Usenet newsgroup) 14 July As an addicted web-crawler, I'm approaching a megabyte-sized history file. 2000 N.Y. Times 18 May g8/2 The Web crawlers that search engines use to explore the Web also use links to determine the value of a particular page. 2003 Denver Post (Nexis) 27 Jan. f01 The vast website..has become a magnet for young web crawlers. |
▸
web-enabled adj. designating or relating to hardware, software, or electronic data adapted for use on the World Wide Web, or the users or producers of such technologies; able to use or be used on the World Wide Web.
| 1995 Seybold Rep. on Desktop Publishing (Nexis) 8 May 4 Common Ground Software has introduced an Internet publishing kit... The kit counters Adobe's announcement of a *Web-enabled version of Acrobat. 1998 NewMedia 10 Feb. 67/2 Though each of these three companies is Web-enabled, their online business has yet to overtake their more traditional customers. 2000 Architects' Jrnl. 18 May 58/3 Last week's column looked at using web-enabled mobile phones outdoors as mobile interpretation centres. |
▸
web page n. a hypertext document that is accessible via the World Wide Web.
| 1994 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 3 Apr. 1 [He] cited the growing trend of personalized home pages, where individuals post a *Web page loaded with data about themselves. 1995 Independent 24 Apr. 23/1 Taking the web further out of the hands of the geeks, there are several packages available that make easy work of ‘authoring’ a web page. 2000 Guardian 16 Mar. (Online Suppl.) 13/3 WebSphere Everyplace provides ‘transcoding’—translation between standard web pages written in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and Wap's WML (Wireless Markup Language). |
▸
web ring n. a number of web sites with related content, offering links to one another in such a way that a person may view each of them in turn rather than repeatedly going back to a single referring site.
| 1996 San Francisco Chron. 27 Aug. c4 The WWWomen's *Web Ring—a feature that sends users to a variety of sites on a certain topic. 1998 Newsday (Electronic ed.) 18 Feb. Webrings are linked Web sites that share a well-defined topic. From any webring member site, a visitor can jump to the next by clicking on a button. 1999 Guardian 1 Apr. ii. 7/4 Not just entire pages, but whole webrings (large groups of linked sites) have been devoted to Nude Raider, an ever-growing portfolio of pictures of Lara in the buff. |
▸
web server n. a program providing access to World Wide Web documents, which accepts requests from web browsers and delivers the required documents, using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP); (also) a computer or computer system on which such a program runs and on which the documents may be stored.
| 1993 Computer Shopper (Nexis) Apr. 700 For now, WEB remains mostly potential. The *WEB server is only available by telneting to info.cern.ch or nxo01.cern.ch. Its full hypertext informational resources are limited at this time, but they are growing. 1994 Computer Weekly 30 June 26/2 Web servers are accessed via client applications called browsers. 1995 New Scientist 25 March 38/2 SilkRoute Ventures's ‘web server’—the computer that stores the value-added information and provides links to other computers on the Internet—is based in the US. 1995 .net June 37/1 Many of the shops are small businesses which want to try and sell over the Web, but don't have the skills or time to manage their own Web server. |
▪ II. web, v. (
wɛb)
[OE. webbian, f. web n. All the senses after 1 are new derivatives from the n.] 1. trans. To weave (a fabric) in the loom. ?
Obs. In
OE. only in
fig. phr. wroht webbian, to devise a (false) accusation.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 519/1 Webbon, or webbe clothe of lynnyne, linifico. 1449 in Hudson & Tingey Rec. Norwich (1910) II. 285 Providinge alwey that the cloþinge be webbed be the avyse of the said wardeyns. 1511–12 Act 3 Hen. VIII c. 6 §1 The Wever whiche shall have the wevyng of eny wollen yerne to be webbed into cloth. 1530 Palsgr. 778/2, I webbe a clothe, Je ourdis. I have nat yerne ynough to webbe my clothe with all. 1809 J. Barlow Columb. ii. 513 Her sprightly mind A vesture white had for the prince design'd; And here she seeks the wool to web the fleece. 1892 Labour Commission Gloss., Web, to weave. |
† 2. intr. Of a spider: To spin its web.
nonce-use.
Obs.| a 1604 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1809) 195 The roofe of Westminster Hall, where no English Spider webbeth or breedeth to this day. |
3. trans. To cover with (spider's or caterpillar's) web; to weave a web upon.
| 1853 Zoologist XI. 4044 The canker-worm..forms itself a house by webbing the corner of a leaf. |
b. transf. To cover with a web or fine network.
| 1895 Forum (N.Y.) Jan., Continents were being ribbed with railways, the atmosphere was being webbed with telegraph wires. 1905 P. Landon Lhasa I. 361 An exquisite head-dress in which the high aureole..was barely recognisable under the strings and riggings of pearls which webbed the whole thing. |
c. To stretch threads of spider's web across (a micrometer, etc.).
| 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 248/1 Method of Webbing the Filar Micrometer. The webbing of a micrometer is a process that should be familiar to all practical astronomers. 1890 W. F. Stanley Surv. & Levelling Instrum. 50 It is a somewhat delicate process to web a diaphragm... The webs are taken from a rather small or young garden spider. Ibid. 100 The diaphragm of the telescope of the Y-level is generally webbed with plain cross webs. |
4. To entangle or envelop in, or as in, a (spider's) web. Also with
round.
| 1864 Webster Web v.t., to unite or surround with a web, or as if with a web; to envelop; to entangle. 1901 Fun 20 Apr. 189/2 A peasant kills a giant spider who has webbed a fly. 1907 Black Cat June 26 The girl was ready when again they [sc. wolves] webbed her round, each trumpet-mouthed with his own hunting cry. She lashed out. |
5. To connect (fingers, toes, etc.) with a web or membrane. Also with
together.
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VI. 45 Nature..by broad skins, has webbed their toes together. 1890 W. P. Ball Effects of Use & Disuse 147 Use-inheritance..aids in webbing the feet of water-dogs, but fails to web the feet of the water-hen. |
b. To imprint with the marks of web-feet.
nonce-use.
| 1866 Howells Venetian Life xiv. 203 The ground was webbed with the feet of geese. |