# spider

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈspaɪ̯də/ · frequency rank #4,715

## Definitions
1. Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey.
2. A program which follows links on the World Wide Web in order to gather information.
3. A float (drink) made by mixing ice-cream and a soda or fizzy drink (such as lemonade).
4. An alcoholic drink made with brandy and lemonade or ginger beer.
5. A spindly person.
6. A man who persistently approaches or accosts a woman in a public social setting, particularly in a bar.
7. A stick with a convex arch-shaped notched head used to support the cue when the cue ball is out of reach at normal extension.
8. A cast-iron frying pan with three legs, once common in open-hearth cookery.
9. Implement for moving food in and out of hot oil for deep frying, with a circular metal mesh attached to a long handle; a spider skimmer
10. A part of a crank, to which the chainrings are attached.
11. Heroin.
12. Part of a resonator instrument that transmits string vibrations from the bridge to a resonator cone at multiple points.
13. A skeleton or frame with radiating arms or members, often connected by crosspieces, such 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; or a frame for strengthening a core or mould for a casting.
14. A soft-hackle fly.
15. The network of wires separating the areas of a dartboard.
16. A spider graph or spider tree.
17. A type of light phaeton.
18. A support for a camera tripod, preventing it from sliding.
19. A competition in which several participants are spread evenly around the edges of the green, who all make one bowl towards the central jack at the same time; the winner being the person whose bowl ends up closest to the jack.
20. A bit for turning fasteners with 8-pointed heads.

## Etymology
From Middle English spiþre, spydyr, spider, spiþer, from Old English spīþra (“spider”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”). Mostly displaced attercop (“spider, unpleasant person”), now a dialectal term.
Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *mězgyrь (whence Russian мизги́рь (mizgírʹ)) (akin to Latvian mežģīt), Turkish örümcek (akin to örmek).

## Easily confused with
- **spite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spite)
- **spike** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spike)
- **spine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spine)
- **spies** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spies)
- **spire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spire)
- **spiel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spiel)
- **spiked** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spiked)
- **Spires** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spires)
- **Spidey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spidey)
- **spyder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spyder)
- **spoiler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spoiler)
- **spinner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spinner)
- **spitzer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spider-vs-spitzer)
- **side** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/side-vs-spider)
- **sides** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sides-vs-spider)
- **slide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slide-vs-spider)
- **sided** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sided-vs-spider)
- **spice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spice-vs-spider)
- **spade** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spade-vs-spider)
- **skier** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/skier-vs-spider)

## Common misspellings (9)
`psider`, `sipder`, `spdier`, `spidder`, `spiderr`, `spidre`, `spiedr`, `sppider`, `sspider`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spider