[OE. webbian, f. WEB sb. All the senses after 1 are new derivatives from the sb.]
1. trans. To weave (a fabric) in the loom. ? Obs.
In OE. only in fig. phr. wroht webbian, to devise a (false) accusation.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 519/1. Webbon, or webbe clothe of lynnyne, linifico.
1449. in Hudson & Tingey, Rec. Norwich (1910), II. 285. Providinge alwey that the cloþinge be webbed be the avyse of the said wardeyns.
1511–2. Act 3 Hen. VIII., c. 6 § 1. The Wever whiche shall have the wevyng of eny wollen yerne to be webbed into cloth.
1530. Palsgr., 778/2. I webbe a clothe, Je ourdis. I have nat yerne ynough to webbe my clothe with all.
1809. J. Barlow, Columb., II. 513. Her sprightly mind A vesture white had for the prince design’d; And here she seeks the wool to web the fleece.
1892. Labour Commission Gloss., Web, to weave.
† 2. intr. Of a spider: To spin its web. nonce-use. Obs.
a. 1604. Hanmer, Chron. Irel. (1809), 195. The roofe of Westminster Hall, where no English Spider webbeth or breedeth to this day.
3. trans. To cover with (spider’s or caterpillar’s) web; to weave a web upon.
1853. Zoologist, XI. 4044. The canker-worm … forms itself a house by webbing the corner of a leaf.
b. transf. To cover with a web or fine network.
1895. Forum (N.Y.), Jan. Continents were being ribbed with railways, the atmosphere was being webbed with telegraph wires.
1905. P. Landon, Lhasa, I. 361. An exquisite head-dress in which the high aureole commonly in use was barely recognisable under the strings and riggings of pearls which webbed the whole thing.
c. To stretch threads of spider’s web across (a micrometer, etc.).
1883. Encycl. Brit., XVI. 248/1. Method of Webbing the Filar Micrometer. The webbing of a micrometer is a process that should be familiar to all practical astronomers.
1890. W. F. Stanley, Surv. & Levelling Instrum., 50. It is a somewhat delicate process to web a diaphragm…. The webs are taken from a rather small or young garden spider. Ibid., 100. The diaphragm of the telescope of the Y-level is generally webbed with plain cross webs.
4. To entangle or envelop in, or as in, a (spider’s) web. Also with round.
1864. Webster, Web v.t., to unite or surround with a web, or as if with a web; to envelop; to entangle.
1901. Fun, 20 April, 189/2. A peasant kills a giant spider who has webbed a fly.
1907. Black Cat, June, 26. The girl was ready when again they [sc. wolves] webbed her round, each trumpet-mouthed with his own hunting cry. She lashed out.
5. To connect (fingers, toes, etc.) with a web or membrane. Also with together.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist., VI. 45. Nature … by broad skins, has webbed their toes together.
1890. W. P. Ball, Are Effects of Use & Disuse inherited? 147. It [use-inheritance] aids in webbing the feet of water-dogs, but fails to web the feet of the water-hen.
b. To imprint with the marks of web-feet. nonce-use.
1866. Howells, Venetian Life, xiv. 203. The ground was webbed with the feet of geese.
