Web \Web\, n. [OE. web, AS. webb; akin to D. web, webbe, OHG.
weppi, G. gewebe, Icel. vefr, Sw. v[aum]f, Dan. v[ae]v. See
Weave.]
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1. That which is woven; a texture; textile fabric; esp.,
something woven in a loom.
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Penelope, for her Ulysses' sake,
Devised a web her wooers to deceive. --Spenser.
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Not web might be woven, not a shuttle thrown, or
penalty of exile. --Bancroft.
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2. A whole piece of linen cloth as woven.
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3. The texture of very fine thread spun by a spider for
catching insects at its prey; a cobweb. "The smallest
spider's web." --Shak.
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4. Fig.: Tissue; texture; complicated fabrication.
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The somber spirit of our forefathers, who wove their
web of life with hardly a . . . thread of rose-color
or gold. --Hawthorne.
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Such has been the perplexing ingenuity of
commentators that it is difficult to extricate the
truth from the web of conjectures. --W. Irving.
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5. (Carriages) A band of webbing used to regulate the
extension of the hood.
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6. A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
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And Christians slain roll up in webs of lead.
--Fairfax.
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(a) The blade of a sword. [Obs.]
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The sword, whereof the web was steel,
Pommel rich stone, hilt gold. --Fairfax.
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(b) The blade of a saw.
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(c) The thin, sharp part of a colter.
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(d) The bit of a key.
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7. (Mach. & Engin.) A plate or thin portion, continuous or
perforated, connecting stiffening ribs or flanges, or
other parts of an object. Specifically:
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(a) The thin vertical plate or portion connecting the
upper and lower flanges of an lower flanges of an iron
girder, rolled beam, or railroad rail.
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(b) A disk or solid construction serving, instead of
spokes, for connecting the rim and hub, in some kinds
of car wheels, sheaves, etc.
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(c) The arm of a crank between the shaft and the wrist.
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(d) The part of a blackmith's anvil between the face and
the foot.
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8. (Med.) Pterygium; -- called also webeye. --Shak.
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9. (Anat.) The membrane which unites the fingers or toes,
either at their bases, as in man, or for a greater part of
their length, as in many water birds and amphibians.
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10. (Zool.) The series of barbs implanted on each side of the
shaft of a feather, whether stiff and united together by
barbules, as in ordinary feathers, or soft and separate,
as in downy feathers. See Feather.
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Pin and web (Med.), two diseases of the eye, caligo and
pterygium; -- sometimes wrongly explained as one disease.
See Pin, n., 8, and Web, n., 8. "He never yet had
pinne or webbe, his sight for to decay." --Gascoigne.
Web member (Engin.), one of the braces in a web system.
Web press, a printing press which takes paper from a roll
instead of being fed with sheets.
Web system (Engin.), the system of braces connecting the
flanges of a lattice girder, post, or the like.
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