web

Etymology

From Middle English webbe, from Old English webb, from Proto-Germanic *wabją, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“weave”).

noun

1. The silken structure which a spider builds using silk secreted from the spinnerets at the caudal tip of its abdomen; a spiderweb.
   The sunlight glistened in the dew on the web.
2. (by extension) Any interconnected set of persons, places, or things, which, when diagrammed, resembles a spider's web.
   But THAT! Was the OLDEN TIMES! A massive, worldwide web of global information has ENTANGLED THE WORLD! People in Beijing can read about a magical incident in Moperville in seconds, and have video of it in minutes! 14 February 2018, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Feb 14, 2018
3. (baseball) The part of a baseball mitt between the forefinger and thumb, the webbing.
   He caught the ball in the web.
4. A latticed or woven structure.
   The gazebo’s roof was a web made of thin strips of wood.
   The colonists were forbidden to manufacture any woollen, or linen, or cotton fabrics ; not a web might be woven, not a shuttle thrown, on penalty of exile. 1866, George Bancroft, “New Netherland”, in History of the United States of America, from the Discovery of the American Continent, 21st edition, volume II, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, page 281
5. (usually with "spin", "weave", or similar verbs) A tall tale with more complexity than a myth or legend.
   Careful—she knows how to spin a good web, but don't lean too hard on what she says.
6. A plot or scheme.
7. The interconnection between flanges in structural members, increasing the effective lever arm and so the load capacity of the member.
8. (rail transport) The thinner vertical section of a railway rail between the top (head) and bottom (foot) of the rail.
9. A fold of tissue connecting the toes of certain birds, or of other animals.
10. 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.
11. (manufacturing) A continuous strip of material carried by rollers during processing.
12. (lithography) A long sheet of paper which is fed from a roll into a printing press, as opposed to individual sheets of paper.
13. (dated) A band of webbing used to regulate the extension of the hood of a carriage.
14. A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
    1. The blade of a sword.
    2. The blade of a saw.
    3. The thin, sharp part of a colter.
    4. The bit of a key.
15. (dated, US, radio, television) A major broadcasting network.
    […] the first big move toward a contract for television performers was made Friday (20) when the webs agreed to pay them according to the length of the show. […] Altho the major TV webs — NBC and CBS — may fall in line soon, an agreement may possibly be held up by the opposition of DuMont […] 1950, Billboard, volume 62, number 43, page 9
16. (architecture) A section of a groin vault, separated by ribs.
17. (medicine, archaic) A cataract of the eye.

verb

1. (intransitive) To construct or form a web.
2. (transitive) To cover with a web or network.
   The canker worm has no shelter upon the tree, but lies out upon the leaf or branch ; this forms itself a house by webbing the corner of a leaf, into which it retreats on the first appearance of danger[…] 1853-06-21, R. C. Stone, “A New Insect”, in Simon Brown, editor, The New England Farmer, volume V, Boston: Raynolds & Nourse, page 362
   In the meantime continents were being ribbed with railways, the atmosphere was being webbed with telegraph wires connecting every important commercial centre[…] 1895, “Has Gold Risen?”, in The Forum, volume XVIII, New York: The Forum Publishing Co., page 577
3. (transitive) To ensnare or entangle.
4. (transitive) To provide with a web.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To weave.
   Item that the Wever whiche shall have the wevyng of eny wollen yerne to be webbed into cloth shall weve werk[…] [paraphrase] Likewise, that the weaver who is to weave any woollen yarn to be woven into cloth shall weave it well. 1511–12, “An Act agaynst deceyptfull making of Wollen Cloth”, in The Statures of the Realm, volume III, London: Dawsons of Pall Mall, published 1963, page 28