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—n., v., webbed, web•bing.
1. something formed by or as if by weaving or interweaving.
2. a thin, silken material spun by spiders and the larvae of some insects, as the webworms and tent caterpillars; cobweb.
a. a woven fabric, esp. a whole piece of cloth in the course of being woven or after it comes from the loom.
b. the flat woven strip, without pile, often found at one or both ends of an Oriental rug.
4. something resembling woven material, esp. something having an interlaced or latticelike appearance: He looked up at the web of branches of the old tree.
5. 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?
6. something that snares or entangles; a trap: innocent travelers caught in the web of international terrorism.
8. Zool.a membrane that connects the digits of an animal, as the toes of aquatic birds.
a. the series of barbs on each side of the shaft of a feather. See illus. under feather.
b. the series on both sides, collectively.
10. 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.
11. Mach.an arm of a crank, usually one of a pair, holding one end of a crankpin at its outer end. See illus. under crankshaft.
12. Archit.(in a vault) any surface framed by ribbing.
13. a large roll of paper, as for continuous feeding of a web press.
14. a network of interlinked stations, services, communications, etc., covering a region or country.
15. Informal.a network of radio or television broadcasting stations.
16. (cap.) Computers.World Wide Web.
1. to cover with or as if with a web; envelop.
2. to ensnare or entrap.
to make or form a web.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.