See Also: polytocous(medicine)
polytocous(dictionary)

spider (iou) and polytocous (iou)


spider (iou)



spider noun & verb.
[Late Old English spiTra, from spinnan SPIN verb. Cf. Old High German spinna, German Spinne (lit. 'female spinner'), SPINNER 1.]
A. noun.
I.
An arachnid of the order Araneida, having a narrow-waisted body and eight jointed legs, and typically feeding on the fluids of insect prey caught by hunting or in webs and immobilized with poison. LOE.
crab-spider, diadem spider, funnel-web spider, jumping spider, money spider, trapdoor spider, etc.
V. Glendinning Spiders waited for her on the bottom of the bath.
b. fig. A person who or thing which entraps or ensnares others. M16.
V. Nabokov A palace intrigue is a spectral spider that entangles you.
a. Any of various arachnids resembling spiders, as harvestmen, sun-spiders, etc. Usu. with specifying word. M17.
HARVEST-spider. SEA-spider.
b. A spider-like animal, as a long-legged crab. colloq. M19.
c. Angling. A hackle fly. M19.
II. transf.
An iron frying-pan, esp. and orig. one with long legs and handle. Chiefly US. L18.
A mixed alcoholic drink usu. of lemonade and brandy. Also = FLOAT noun 9. Austral. slang. M19.
Any of various mechanical devices with radiating arms or spokes. M19.
b. Nautical. = spider-hoop below. M19.
c. Billiards & Snooker. A long-legged rest that can be placed over a ball without touching it. Also more fully spider-rest. L19.
d. A spiked candle-holder used esp. in opal-mining. Austral. E20.
e. Engineering. A metal sleeve, orig. at the end of a hanging cable, within which an object may be gripped by screws or wedges. E20.
f. Electronics. A flexible linkage formerly placed between the moving cone and the fixed magnet assembly of a loudspeaker. E20.
Cards. A form of patience using two packs. L19.
a. A light cart or carriage with high body and very large narrow wheels. Also (Austral.), a trotting gig. L19.
b. Hist. An early bicycle with steel as opp. to wooden wheels. Also (Scot.), a pennyfarthing bicycle. L19.
= spider-naevus below. M20.
Computing. = CRAWLER 8. L20.
Comb.: spider angioma Medicine = spider-naevus below; spider-band Nautical = spider-hoop below; spider beetle a long-legged beetle of the family Ptinidae, many of which are pests of stored products; spider-catcher (a) a person who catches spiders (freq. as a General term of Abuse); (b) any of various birds which catch or eat spiders, as a spider-hunter; spider-cell Biology a cell having numerous delicate processes resembling the legs of a spider, esp. as found characteristically in glia; spider crab any of various crabs of the family Majidae, having long slender legs; spider flower a cleome, Cleome hassleriana, with white or pink flowers, grown for ornament; spider hole Military a small foxhole; spider-hoop Nautical a small metal band put around a mast, to which the gooseneck of the main boom is attached, used to hold belaying pins; spider-hunter any of several sunbirds of the genus Arachnothera, native to parts of the Indian subcontinent and SE Asia; spider-hunting wasp = spider-wasp below; spider-leg (a) any of the legs of a spider; transf. a long thin leg or Other object resembling this; (b) Scot. (in pl.) a crane-fly; spider lily any of various bulbous plants having lily-like flowers with long narrow perianth segments, esp. plants of the genera Hymenocallis and Crinum, both of the amaryllis family; spider-line a slender thread or wire used to form a cross-wire in an optical instrument, esp. a micrometer; spiderman colloq. a construction worker etc. employed on a high building; a steeplejack; spider monkey any of several monkeys of Central and S. America, esp. of the genera Ateles and Brachyteles, having long slender limbs and a prehensile tail; spider-naevus Medicine a cluster of minute red blood-vessels visible under the skin, occurring esp. during Pregnancy or as a symptom of cirrhosis, acne rosacea, etc.; spider orchid any of several orchids with flowers thought to resemble a spider; esp. (a) (in full early spider orchid) a rare British orchid, Ophrys sphegodes, of chalk grassland, with a velvety labellum; (b) Austral. any of several orchids of the genus Caladenia, with very long filiform petals and sepals; spider plant a southern African plant Chlorophytum comosum, of the lily family, with long narrow leaves, which spreads by producing plantlets and in its variegated form is a popular house-plant; spider-rest: see sense 5c above; spider-stitch Embroidery a stitch producing a weblike motif, worked by darning in a spiral on a base of crossed straight stitches; spider's web: see SPIDERWEB; spider-table a light table with thin elongated legs; spider-wasp = POMPILID noun; spider-wheel (a) a type of water-wheel; (b) Embroidery = spider-stitch above; (c) a spoked metal wheel, esp. a bicycle-wheel; spider-work Embroidery = OPUS ARANEUM; spiderwort (a) (in full mountain spiderwort) the Snowdon lily, Lloydia serotina; (b) a tradescantia, esp. a cultivated form or hybrid of Tradescantia virginiana.
b. verb.
verb trans. Entrap, ensnare. rare. L19.
verb intrans. & trans. Move or spread (along) in a manner suggestive of a spider. M20.
T. Pynchon A glimmering map,..written names and spidering streets. Wilderness Odyssey We scuttled up a..ramp and spidered some cracks to a clutter of big ledges.
spidered adjective (rare) (a) resembling a spider or spiderweb; (b) = SPIDERY 3: M17.
spiderish adjective spider-like, spidery M20.
spider-like adverb & adjective (a) adverb in the manner of a spider; (b) adjective resembling a spider, spidery: E17.
spiderling noun a young or small spider L19.
spiderly adjective (rare) like a spider L19.

polytocous (iou)



polytocous adjective. L19.
[from Greek polutokos producing numerous offspring, formed as POLY- + tok-, tiktein bring forth: see -OUS.]
Botany. Bearing fruit many times, polycarpous. rare. L19.
Zoology. = MULTIPAROUS 1. M20.