predatory arachnid with eight legs, two poison fangs, two feelers, and usually two silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
"The spider wove a intricate web to trap its unsuspecting prey before injecting venom through its fangs."
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
"The website administrator deployed a spider to crawl their entire server and update the global index of public documents."
a skillet made of cast iron
"The chef used his heavy spider to lift the golden-brown fried chicken out of the hot oil."
Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
"The spider spun a delicate web in the corner of the room to catch its prey."
In plain English: A spider is an eight-legged creature that spins webs to catch its food.
"A small spider spun its web across the kitchen window this morning."
Usage: Use this word to refer specifically to any eight-legged arachnid that spins a web or hunts actively, distinguishing it from similar-looking insects like scorpions or ticks. Avoid using "spider" as a verb; instead, use the phrasal construction "to spider out" only when describing something spreading rapidly in all directions.
To move like a spider.
"The children played a game where they had to creep across the floor on their hands and knees, moving just like spiders."
The 29th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
"In some historical contexts, scholars mistakenly referred to Sura 29 as 'Spider' due to its opening verse about a spider's house, though it is officially known as Al-'Ankabut."
The word "spider" comes from Old English spīþra, which is related to the Proto-Germanic root meaning "to spin." It originally referred to the creature known for spinning webs.