web

UK: 'web', 'Web': /ˈwɛb/ US: /wɛb/ ,(web)

Inflections of 'web' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

webs

v 3rd person singular

webbing

v pres p

webbed

v past

webbed

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

web /wɛb/   n. [countable]

1. Insects, Invertebrates a fabric formed by weaving.
2. a cobweb.
3. something that is interconnected:
   a web of branches.
4. a complicated, but connected, set or pattern of circumstances, facts, etc.:
   a web of evidence; the web of life.
5. something that entangles:
   a web of lies.
6. Zoology a piece of skinlike material connecting the digits of an animal, as a bird living in water.

webbed, adj.: 

the webbed feet of a duck.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

web  (web), n., v., webbed, web•bing. 
n. 

1. Insects, Invertebrates something formed by or as if by weaving or interweaving.
2. a thin, silken material spun by spiders and the larvae of some insects, as the webworms and tent caterpillars;
   cobweb.
3. Textiles
   • a woven fabric, esp. a whole piece of cloth in the course of being woven or after it comes from the loom.
   • the flat woven strip, without pile, often found at one or both ends of an Oriental rug.
4. something resembling woven material, esp. something having an interlaced or latticelike appearance:
   He looked up at the web of branches of the old tree.
5. an intricate set or pattern of circumstances, facts, etc.:
   The thief was convicted by a web of evidence. Who can understand the web of life?
6. something that snares or entangles;
   a trap:
   innocent travelers caught in the web of international terrorism.
7. webbing.
8. Zoology a membrane that connects the digits of an animal, as the toes of aquatic birds.
9. Birds [Ornith.]
   • the series of barbs on each side of the shaft of a feather. See illus. under feather. 
   • the series on both sides, collectively.
10. an integral or separate part of a beam, rail, truss, or the like, that forms a continuous, flat, narrow, rigid connection between two stronger, broader parallel parts, as the flanges of a structural shape, the head and foot of a rail, or the upper and lower chords of a truss.
11. Mechanical Engineering [Mach.] an arm of a crank, usually one of a pair, holding one end of a crankpin at its outer end. See illus. under crankshaft. 
12. Architecture (in a vault) any surface framed by ribbing.
13. Printing a large roll of paper, as for continuous feeding of a web press.
14. Radio and Television a network of interlinked stations, services, communications, etc., covering a region or country.
15. Radio and Television, Informal Terms [Informal.] a network of radio or television broadcasting stations.
16. Computing (usu. cap.) See World Wide Web.

v.t. 
17. to cover with or as if with a web;
    envelop.
18. to ensnare or entrap.

v.i. 
19. to make or form a web.
• bef. 900; Middle English (noun, nominal), Old English; cognate with Dutch, Low German webbe, Old Norse vefr; akin to weave
web′less, adj. 
web′like′, adj. 
Synonyms
• 5. network, tissue, tangle, maze.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

web / wɛb/ noun

1. any structure, construction, fabric, etc, formed by or as if by weaving or interweaving
2. a mesh of fine tough scleroprotein threads built by a spider from a liquid secreted from its spinnerets and used to trap insects
   See also cobweb1
3. a similar network of threads spun by certain insect larvae, such as the silkworm
4. a fabric, esp one in the process of being woven
5. a membrane connecting the toes of some aquatic birds or the digits of such aquatic mammals as the otter
6. the vane of a bird's feather
7. the central section of an I-beam or H-beam that joins the two flanges of the beam
8. a continuous strip of paper as formed on a paper machine or fed from a reel into some printing presses
9. (as modifier): web offset, a web press
10. the web ⇒ (often capital)
    short for World Wide Web
11. (as modifier): a web browser, web pages
12. any structure, construction, etc, that is intricately formed or complex: a web of intrigue

verb (webs, webbing, webbed)

1. (transitive) to cover with or as if with a web
2. (transitive) to entangle or ensnare
3. (intransitive) to construct a web

Etymology: Old English webb; related to Old Saxon, Old High German webbi, Old Norse vefr

ˈwebless adjective

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

web, +n. 

1. Computing (usually cap.) See World Wide Web (in this section).