webbing, vbl. n.
(ˈwɛbɪŋ)
[f. web v. + -ing1.]
1. The action or process of weaving. ? Obs.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 519/1 Webbynge, of wullyne clothe, lanificium... Webbynge, of lynnyne, linificium. 1463–4 Rolls of Parlt. V. 501/2 Withoute dyversite in webbyng, fullyng, knottyng and burlyng. 1483 Vulgaria abs Terentio 3 Wyth woll and webbynge wemen were wont to gete their lyuynge. 1558 in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1897) XII. 439 Which yerely fee ferme was paid so long as webbyng in the said citie was used. 1562 T. Phaer æneid ix. E e ij, In webbing wasting tyme to eas thereby myne aged care [tela curas solabar anilis]. 1657 J. Watts Scribe etc. Author's Epist. b 2, Woman, get you home, and follow your own businesses of spinning and webbing. |
2. concr. A woven material.
| 1754 Pococke Trav. (Camden) II. 15 Welch Webbings..a thick sort of flannel, of which the Soldiers' clothing is chiefly made. 1883 Daily News 10 Sept. 2/6 In elastic webbings there is no improvement in the trade for gussets [of boots]. 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 84/1 Webbing made of reed and used in substitution of fir-lathing. |
b. Woven material in the form of a strong wide band, used by upholsterers and others. Also attrib. in webbing belt, webbing tape.
| 1794 Girth-webbing [see girth-web]. 1796 Repert. Arts & Manuf. VI. 76 A chain, webbing, strap or line, is applied on the ledge on the face of the wheel. 1833 Loudon Encycl. Archit. §634 A box footstool... The top is formed of an outside frame, on which is stretched strong webbing, for the purpose of supporting the stuffing above. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Webbing tape, a kind of broad tape. 1885 Manch. Exam. 5 May 5/2 A broad band of Turcoman webbing of extremely fine texture. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Vocab., Webbing, a term for the wider tapes of a printing machine; also applied to the girthing used for running in and out the carriage of hand-presses. 1916 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 548/2 Trench coat, rifle, bayonet, webbing belts [etc.]. |
3. Material for a (spider's) web. ? nonce-use.
| 1883 G. Macdonald Princess & Curdie xxvii, A huge spider,..which, having made an excellent supper, was full of webbing. |
4. = palmation 2. Also Path., a webbed state of the fingers or toes.
| 1872 Erichsen Surg. (ed. 6) II. 298 Webbing of the Fingers is occasionally met with. 1888 Med. Press 18 July 59/2 In the feet..the webbing is less thick and complete than in the hands, the terminal phalanges being separate from each other. 1894 Century Mag. Jan. 353/2 As the palmation, or webbing [of the larger moose's antlers], is not so wide as in the first variety, the points are longer. |