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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Spider \Spi"der\, noun[OE. spi[thorn]re, fr. AS. spinnan to spin; -- so named from spinning its web; cf. D. spin a spider, G. spinne, Sw. spindel. See {Spin}.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of arachnids comprising the order Araneina. Spiders have the mandibles converted into poison fangs, or falcers. The abdomen is large and not segmented, with two or three pairs of spinnerets near the end, by means of which they spin threads of silk to form cocoons, or nests, to protect their eggs and young. Many species spin also complex webs to entrap the insects upon which they prey. The eyes are usually eight in number (rarely six), and are situated on the back of the cephalothorax. See Illust. under {Araneina}.
Note: Spiders are divided into two principal groups: the Dipneumona, having two lungs: and the Tetrapneumona, having four lungs. See {Mygale}. The former group includes several tribes; as, the jumping spiders (see {Saltigrad[ae]}), the wolf spiders, or {Citigrad[ae]} (see under {Wolf}), the crab spiders, or {Laterigrad[ae]} (see under {Crab}), the garden, or geometric, spiders, or {Orbitell[ae]} (see under {Geometrical}, and {Garden}), and others. See {Bird spider}, under {Bird}, {Grass spider}, under {Grass}, {House spider}, under {House}, {Silk spider}, under {Silk}.
2. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of various other arachnids resembling the true spiders, especially certain mites, as the red spider (see under {Red}).
3. An iron pan with a long handle, used as a kitchen utensil in frying food. Originally, it had long legs, and was used over coals on the hearth.
4. A trevet to support pans or pots over a fire.
5. (Mach.) A skeleton, or frame, having radiating arms or members, often connected by crosspieces; 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; a frame for strengthening a core or mold for a casting, etc.
{Spider ant}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Solitary ant}, under {Solitary}.
{Spider crab} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of maioid crabs having a more or less triangular body and ten long legs. Some of the species grow to great size, as the great Japanese spider crab ({Macrocheira Kempferi}), measuring sometimes more than fifteen feet across the legs when they are extended.
{Spider fly} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of parasitic dipterous insects of the family {Hippoboscid[ae]}. They are mostly destitute of wings, and live among the feathers of birds and the hair of bats. Called also {bird tick}, and {bat tick}.
{Spider hunter} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of East Indian sunbirds of the genus {Arachnothera}.
{Spider lines}, filaments of a spider's web crossing the field of vision in optical instruments; -- used for determining the exact position of objects and making delicate measurements. Fine wires, silk fibers, or lines on glass similarly placed, are called spider lines.
{Spider mite}. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any one of several species of parasitic mites of the genus {Argas} and allied genera. See {Argas}. (b) Any one of numerous small mites injurious to plants.
{Spider monkey} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of South American monkeys of the genus {Ateles}, having very long legs and a long prehensile tail.
{Spider orchis} (Bot.), a European orchidaceous plant ({Ophrys aranifera}), having flowers which resemble spiders.
{Spider shell} (Zo["o]l.), any shell of the genus {Pteroceras}. See {Pteroceras}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
spider
noun
1: predatory arachnid that usually has silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
2: a computer program that prowls the internet looking for publicly accessible resources that can be added to a database; the database can then be searched with a search engine [syn: {wanderer}]
3: a skillet made of cast iron
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
39 Moby Thesaurus words for "spider": Chilopoda, Chordata, Echiuroidea, Ectoprocta, Entoprocta, Monoplacophora, Nemertinea, Phoronidea, arachnid, arthropod, beetle, bug, caterpillar, centipede, chilopod, daddy longlegs, diplopod, fly, harvestman, hexapod, insect, jenny, larva, maggot, millepede, millipede, mite, mule, nymph, scorpion, silkworm, skillet, spinner, spinning frame, spinning jenny, spinster, tarantula, throstle, tick
From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:
spider The Web-walking part of a search engine that collects pages for indexing in the search engine's database. Also called a {bot}. The best-known spider is Scooter, the web-walker for the Alta Vista search engine.
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
spider (Or "robot", "crawler") A program that automatically explores the {World-Wide Web} by retrieving a document and recursively retrieving some or all the documents that are referenced in it. This is in contrast with a normal {web browser} operated by a human that doesn't automatically follow links other than {inline images} and {URL redirection}. The {algorithm} used to pick which references to follow strongly depends on the program's purpose. {Index}-building spiders usually retrieve a significant proportion of the references. The other extreme is spiders that try to validate the references in a set of documents; these usually do not retrieve any of the links apart from redirections. The {standard for robot exclusion} is designed to avoid some problems with spiders. Early examples were {Lycos} and {WebCrawler}. {Home (http://info.webcrawler.com/mak/projects/robots/robots.html)}. (2001-04-30)
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Spider The trust of the hypocrite is compared to the spider's web or house (Job 8:14). It is said of the wicked by Isaiah that they "weave the spider's web" (59:5), i.e., their works and designs are, like the spider's web, vain and useless. The Hebrew word here used is _'akkabish_, "a swift weaver." In Prov. 30:28 a different Hebrew word (semamith) is used. It is rendered in the Vulgate by stellio, and in the Revised Version by "lizard." It may, however, represent the spider, of which there are, it is said, about seven hundred species in Palestine.
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