spider
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Any of different eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
spyderSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈspaɪdɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
Internet
A program which follows links on the World Wide Web in order to gather information.
chiefly australia and new zealand
A float (drink) made by mixing ice-cream and a soda or fizzy drink (such as lemonade).
cooking
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
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.
A skillet made of cast iron
verb
intransitive
To cover a surface like a cobweb.
intransitive
To move like a spider.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
Used this way, spider is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Any of numerous crabs with very long legs and small triangular bodies.
Fern of North Africa and Azores and Canary Islands.
Native to South America but naturalized in warm parts of United States.
Web-spinning mite that attacks garden plants and fruit trees.
Arboreal monkey of tropical America with long slender legs and long prehensile tail.
A dilation of superficial capillaries with a central red dot from which blood vessels radiate.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A web resembling the webs spun by spiders.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.