weaver-finch 
weaver-finch (we'ver-tinch), It. Any weaver- 
bird. 
The Ploeeidie, or weaver-Jincheg. 
A. It Wallace, Distribution of Animals, II. 286 
weaver-fisht (we'ver-fish), 11. A fish of the 
genus Tnichinus ; a weever. See cut under 
Tracliinu.i. 
weaver-shell (we'v^r-shel), «. A shuttle-shell. 
weaver's-shuttle (we'verz-shuf'l), ». The 
shuttle-shell, Radius roh'a. See Ovulum, and 
cut under ehuttlv-shell. 
weavilt, »■ An old spelling of weevil. 
weaving (we'ving), »i. [< ME. wevi/iigc, ivef- 
fynge; verbal n. of weave'-, r.] 1. The act of 
one who or that which weaves ; specifically, the 
act or art of producing cloth or other textile 
fabrics by means of a loom from the combina- 
tion of threads or filaments. In weaving all kinds 
of fabrics, wliether plain or llKured, one system of tlireails, 
calletl tlie woo/" or lee/t, is nia<Ie t*) pass alternately under 
and over another system of tlirea<l8, called the warp, web, 
orehaiJi. The essential operations are the successive rais- 
ing of certain threads of the warp and the depression of 
others, so as to form a shed fur the passaj^e of the weft-yarn, 
which is then beaten up by means of a lathe or batten. 
Weaving is performed by the hand in what are called 
hand-Uffttiu, or by 8teani-i>ower in what are called pimer- 
loams, but the general arrangements for txitli are to a cer- 
tain extent the same. (See fooml.) Weaving, in the most 
general sense of the term, comprehends not only the manu- 
facture of those textile fabrics which are prepared in the 
loom, but also that of network, lacework, etc. See cut 
under ithuttle. 
2. Ill the manege, the action of a horse that 
weaves, or moves the body from side to side. 
weazand, ». See weasand. 
weazelt, «. See weasel. 
weazen (we'/.n). See ifi.-fHl. 
web ( web), H. [< MR.H!(''),irf66e,<AS. !Pe6(H:efi6-), 
a web (= OS. wehhi = OFries. web, woh = 1). iceh, 
tcebbe, a web (= LG. ireb, trehbe = ()H(J. iceppi, 
toap/n, MUG. weppe, weblir, tcche, (J. dial, webb 
(cf. G. gewebe), web, woof, = Icel. vcfr = Sw. 
vdf = Dan. vat; web), < icefaii, weave: see 
weare^.] 1. That wliich is woven; a woven 
fabric; sjiecifically, a whole piece of cloth in 
course of being woven, or after it comes from 
the loom. 
Biholde how Eleyne hath a newe cote ; 
I wlashe thaniie it were myne and al the urebtte after li. e., 
all left after making the coat). 
Pierii Plotcmnn (B), v. 111. 
My dochter she 's a thrifty la-ss ; 
.She span seven year U) me ; 
An' if it war well counteii np, 
Kull ten mttts it would be. 
Keiiip!/ /fayc (Child's Ballails, VIII. 140). 
At noon 
To morrow come, and ye shall pay 
Each fortieth ivebof cloth to me. 
As the law is, ami ko your way. 
M. AnuM, The Sick King in Bokhara 
2. Same as vebbiiig, 1. — 3. The warp in a loom. 
[Provincial.] — 4. Something resembling a web 
or sheet of cloth ; specifically, a large roll of pa- 
per such as is used in the web-press for news- 
papers. 
Several men or boys are placed to receive the sheets [of 
paper] according to the number into which the width of 
the web la divided. Ure, Diet., III. 403. 
5. Any one of various thin and broad olgects, 
probably so named from some similarity to the 
thin, broad faV)ri(^ of tlm loom. Especially— (nt) 
A sheet or thin plate, as of lead. 
There with stattdy iKnnp by heaps they wend, 
Am! ('lirislians slain roll up in wela of lead. 
Fair/ax, tr. of Tasso's (Jodfrey of Boulogne, x. Sfi. 
(M) The blade of a sword. 
A sword, whereof the leeh was steel ; 
Pummel, rich stone ; hilts, gf>ld, approved by touch. 
Fair/ax, tr. of Tasso's Godfrey of Boulogne, ii. 93. 
(c) The blade of a saw. (</) The plate (or its equivalent) 
in a beam or girder which connects tlie upper and lower 
flat or laterally extending plates. («) The correspondlnj; 
part of a rail, between the treail ami the foot. See cut 
nniler rail. (/) The Hat part of a wheel, between the 
nave and tlie rim, as in some railway-wheels — occupying 
the space where simkes would lie in uu ordinary wheel. 
(.V) The solid part of the bit of a key. (A) The part of an 
anvil l>elow the head, which is of reduced size, (i) The 
thin, shar() part of the colter of a plow. See cut imder 
plow. (J) A canvas cloth used in a saddle. (*) The has- 
ketwork of a gatdon. See cut under ffabion. (0 In a ve- 
hicle, a combination of bands or straps of a stout fabric, 
serving U> keep the IukmI from opening too far. E. II. 
Kniaht. (in) 'The aim of a crank. 
6. In ornith., the blade, standard, vane, or vex- 
illum of a feather: so called from the texture 
acquired through the weaving or interlocking 
of the barbs by the barbules with their barbi- 
cels and booklets. That vane which is furthest from 
the middle line of the bird's body is the outer web; the 
other, thi* iuiier iceh, is tecbuically distiugtdshed as poffo- 
niitm externum and internum. The two often differ from 
each other in size, sha|ie, or color, or in all these resiwcts; 
the difference is most pronounced on the flight-feathers 
6865 
(as seen in any quill pen) and lateral rudder-feathers. See 
cuts under aftershaft, barb, ocellate, and pencilinij. 
They [barbules] make the vane truly a web : that is, they 
so connect the barbs together that some little force is re- 
quired to pull them apart. 
Couei, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 84. 
7. The plexus of very delicate threads or fila- 
ments which a spider spins, and whicli serves 
as a net to eateh flies or other insects for its 
food; a cobweb; also, a similar substance spun 
and woven into a sort of fabric by many in- 
sects, usually as a covering or jirotection. See 
bag-worm, web-worm, and tent-caterpillar. 
The Comissarles court 's a spiders webbe. 
That doth entangle all the lesser flies. 
Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 81. 
Much like a subtle spider, which doth sit 
In middle of her weti, which spreadeth wide. 
Sir J. Dames, Immortal, of Sonl, xviii. 
8. Figttratively, anything carefully contrived 
and elaborately put together or woven ; a plot; 
a scheme. 
All this is but a web of the wit ; it can work nothing. 
Bacon, Praise of Knowledge (ed. 1887). 
The Fates at length the blissful Web have spun. 
Conr/reve, Birth of tlie Muse. 
O, what a tangled iveb we weave 
When tlrst we practise to deceive ! 
Scott, Marmion, vi. 17. 
It is one web of intricate complications between the 
Emperors of the East and West, the Republic of Venice, 
the Kings of Hungary, Dalmatia, and Bosnia. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 229. 
9. In anal., a connective or otlicr tissue; any 
open structure composed of fibers and mem- 
branes running into each other irregularly as 
if tangled, and serving to support fat or other 
soft substances. See tix.siic and histohigij. — 
10. In r<»>7., the membrane or foldof skin which 
connects the digits of any animal; especially, 
that which connects the toes of a l)ird or a quad- 
ruped, making the animal palmiped, and the 
foot itself palmate, as occurs in nearly all aquat- 
ic birds (hence called web-footed), and in many 
aquatic mammals, as the beaver, tlic muskrat, 
and ornithorhynchus. Webs soniethues occur as a 
congenital defect of the hinnan lingers or toes. The rela- 
tively largest webs are those of the bats' wings. In birds 
the extent and si>ecial chai-acter of the webs (teebnically 
called palamx) arc taken into some account in classili- 
eation, anil some conditions of the webs receive special 
names. See ireb-/ooted, and cuts under liaf^, duckl/ill, Jtij- 
inij-frog. (Kdemia, otary, palmate, semipalmate, and toii- 
pahfuile. 
Some full-iireasted swan 
That, fluting a wild carol ere her deatii, 
KulHes her pure cidd plume, and takes the flood 
With swarthy webs. Tennyson, Morte d' Arthur. 
11. In coal-mining, the face or wall of a long- 
wall stall in course of being holed and broken 
down for removal. Gresteij. [Midland coal- 
fields, Kng.]— Basal web, a small web between a 
bird's Uies, extending little if any beyond the basal joints 
of the digits it eotmects. .See cuts under Kreunetes atnl 
semipalmute.— Chain- web, a kind of saw; a scroll saw. — 
Choroid web, the velum interix'situm. — Emarginate 
web, a lull web between a bird's toes, whose fi-ci; border 
is notably concave or miarginate. See cut under totipal- 
?«a(e.— (geometrical spider's web. Sec geometric, and 
cut under (ri«)i;;fr.- Holland webt. Same as holland, 
n., 1.— Incised web, a very deeply cnnirginate web of 
a bird's toes.— India-rubber web, a fabric in which a 
warp of rubber threads is ftlle<l with a weft of silk, linen, 
or cotton. The warp, rendered inelastic during the weav- 
ing, has its elasticity subsequently restol'ed by a process 
In which the fabric is subjected to heat. Also called 
elastic uvh. — Mill-saw web, a thin saw carried in a verti- 
cal saw.gute. :ind used for resawing. — Pinandwebt. See 
pi'n:i.— Spider's web. See spidcr-ueb. 
web (web), r. i. ; pret. and jtp. webbed, ppr. 
webbing. [< ME. wcbbcn, < AS. icc/zftfln, weave, 
web; from the noun.] 1. To cover with or as 
with a web; envelop. — 2. To connect with a 
web, as tlio toes of a bird; render palmate. — 
Webbed Angers, two or more fingers of the human hand 
which are unitc<l by a band of connecting tissue, either 
occurring coiigenitally or as an abnormality, or resulting 
from cicatrization after burns and other woun<ls; dacty- 
lion. See web-finyered, and Didut's operation (luider ojiera- 
tion). — Webbed toes, a condition affecting the toes of the 
Innnan foot, abnormally or accidentally, similar to that of 
webbed lingers. See web-/ooted. 
webbe^t, "■ [< ME. webbe, a weaver, < AS. web- 
bri, a weaver, < wefan, weave: see weare'^, and 
cf. web. The ME. noun webbe survives in the 
proper name ll^chb.'] A weaver. See Webber. 
A webbe, a dyere, and a tapicer. 
Chaucer, den. Pn.l. to C. T., I. 362. 
The weblies ant the fullarls assembleden hem alle, 
Antmakeden huere consail in huere comnuine lialle. 
Flemish Insurrection (Child's Ballads, VI. 270). 
webbe^t, "• An old spelling of well. 
webbert (web'er), 11. [< ME. wehharc, < AS. 
webherc, a weaver, < wchhdii, weave: see tvcb, 
n. The noim snrviv(^s in the surname Webber,^ 
A Middle English form of weaver'^. 
web-machine 
webbing (web'ing), «. [< ME. webbtjnge; verbal 
n. of we/), t'.] 1. -A. woven material, especially 
one woven without pile, [dainly and strongly. 
The term is applied to material or pieces of material 
which are intended for strength, to bear a weight, to be 
drawn tight, or the like, as a belt or surcingle, and also 
for that which serves to protect and cover the edge of a 
piece of more delicate fabric : thus, Eastern rugs are often 
made with several inches of webbiny projecting beyond 
the part that is covered with pile. 
2. In printing, the broad tapes used to conduct 
webs or sheets of paper in a printing-machine, 
or the broad straps or girths attached to the 
roance of the hand-press. — 3. In roo7., the 
webs of the digits collectively: as, the webbing 
is extensive or complete ; the webbed state 
of the digits, or the formation of their webs ; 
palmation. See web, n., 10.— Elastic webbing. 
See elastic. 
webby (web'i), «. [<wcb + -y'^.'] Relating to a 
web, or consisting of a web, in any sense ; web- 
like; membranous. 
Bats on their webby wings in darkness move, 
And feebly shriek their melancholv love. 
Crabbe, Works, I. 60. 
weber (va'ber),». [After Wilhelm Tf'ebcr{lS04- 
1891), a German physicist.] A name proposed 
by Latimer Clarke for tlie unit of electrical 
quantity which has since been named coulomb; 
it was also for some time used for the practical 
unit of electrical cui'rent which is now called 
ampere. 
Weberian (we-be'rian), a. [< Weber (see def.) 
-1- -i«».] Pertaining to or named after a per- 
son named Weber (in ttie following plirases E. 
II. Weber, 179r)-1833, a German anatomist and 
pliysiologist) — Weberian apparatus, the whole of 
the parts or organs by means of which Ihe air-bladder of 
some fishes is connected with the ear, including the We- 
berian ossicles and their connections. 
An air-bladder connected with the auditory organ by 
i[)tervention of a ^yebtTian apparatus, formed of parts of 
the anterior vertebra', modified after precisely the same 
plan as in the otlier siluroids. 
Amer. Nat., May, 1889, p. 427. 
Weberian ossicles. See ossicle. 
weber-meter (Vil'ber-m6"ter), n. Same as aiu- 
pvre-meler or as cintlnnib-mcter (see weber). 
Weber's chronometer. A kind of metronome 
invented by (iottl'ried Weber, consisting of a 
weight and a graduated and ad.justable cord. 
See metninoinc. 
Weber's corpuscle. The depression in the veru 
montaiium situated between tlie openings of 
tlie e,]acul,atory ducts. 
Weber's experiment. The experiment of clos- 
ing one ear to find that a vibrating tuning-fork 
placed with th(! end resting against the vertex 
will be heard more distinctly in that ear. 
Weber's glands. The mucous glands of the 
toilglU'. 
Weber's law. See/coci. 
Weber's paradox. The fact that a muscle, 
when so stretched that it cantiot contract, may 
elongate. 
web-eye (web'i), ». In patlwl., same a,^ ptery- 
gium, 'i. 
web-eyed (web'id), a. Exhibiting or affected 
with the disease called wcb-ei/e. 
web-fingered (web'ting^gerd), a. Having the 
fingers of the hand, or any digits of the fore 
limb, connected by means of more or less ex- 
tensive webs formed of a fold of skin : as, the 
bat is a completely wcb-fmgered animal. Tlic An- 
gers of the human hand arc naturally webbeil a little at 
the base, and sometimes connected for their wh(dc length, 
constituting a congenital deformity. Compare webbed Jin- 
ffers (under web, v. t.), and see cuts umler baV^, Jlyiny-Jox, 
and Jlyiny-friiy. 
He was, it is said, web-footed naturally, and partially 
web-Jinyered. 
Mayhew, Lomlon Labinir and London Poor, II. 137. 
web-foot (web'fut), V. A foot wliose toes, or 
some of them, are webbed; also, the condition 
of being web-footed. As applied to persons, it 
implies an abnormal condition, corresponding 
to the web-fingered. - Gillie web-foot. See yillie. 
web-footed (web'fut'cd), a. Having web-feet; 
being web-toed, whether as an abnormality of 
persons, or as the natural formation of the 
feet of many a(|uatic animals. Many nuimmals 
are web-footed, as the seal, the otter, the nuiskrat, the 
beaver, and the duck-mole. Nearly all swinuiiiiig and 
many wading birds are web-footed, to a varying extent in 
dirt'erent cases. The salient batrachians ai-e mostly web- 
foote<l, esi)ecially frogs, as to their hind feet. Sec wet', n., 
10, web, V. t., webtiiny, 'i, pinniped, palmiped, palmate, semi, 
palmate, totifalmate, with various cuts, and those muler 
Jlyiny-froy, duckbill, and otary. 
web-footedness (web'fut"ed-iies), )(. Web- 
I'oof ; the state of being web-footed. 
web-machine (web'ma-slieu"), n. Same as 
iieb-pres.^. 
