CS Knowledge Base

From Middle English web, webbe, from Old English webb, from Proto-West Germanic *wabi, from Proto-Germanic *wabją (“web”), from Proto-Germanic *webaną (“to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”).

• IPA^(key): /wɛb/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛb

web (plural webs)

2. 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.

3. (by extension) Any interconnected set of persons, places, or things, which, when diagrammed, resembles a spider's web.
   • 1828, Washington Irving, “Birth, Parentage, and Education of Columbus”, in A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: G. & C. Carvill, […], →OCLC, book I, page 3:

     The time of his birth, his birth-place, his parentage, are all involved in obscurity; and such has been the perplexing ingenuity of commentators, that it is difficult to extricate the truth from the web of conjectures with which it is interwoven.

   • 1851 (indicated as 1852), Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Main-Street”, in The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 96:

     [T]he blame must rest on the sombre spirit of our forefathers, who wove their web of life with hardly a single thread of rose-color or gold, and not on me, who have a tropic-love of sunshine, and would gladly gild all the world with it, if I knew where to find so much.

   • 2018 February 14, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Feb 14, 2018:

     "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!"

5. (baseball) The part of a baseball mitt between the forefinger and thumb, the webbing.

   He caught the ball in the web.

6. A latticed or woven structure.

   The gazebo’s roof was a web made of thin strips of wood.

   • 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:

     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.

7. (usually with "spin", "weave", or similar verbs) A tall tale with more complexity than a myth or legend.

   Synonym: yarn

   Careful—she knows how to spin a good web, but don't lean too hard on what she says.

   a tangled web of deception

8. A plot or scheme.
9. The interconnection between flanges in structural members, increasing the effective lever arm and so the load capacity of the member.
11. (rail transport) The thinner vertical section of a railway rail between the top (head) and bottom (foot) of the rail.

    Coordinate terms: head, foot

12. A fold of tissue connecting the toes of certain birds, or of other animals.
13. 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.
14. (manufacturing) A continuous strip of material carried by rollers during processing.
15. (lithography) A long sheet of paper which is fed from a roll into a printing press, as opposed to individual sheets of paper.
17. (glassblowing, obsolete) A seventeenth-century unit of Rhenish glass containing 60 bunches.

    Synonym: way

18. (dated) A band of webbing used to regulate the extension of the hood of a carriage.
19. A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
    • 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Tenth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 26, page 184:

      […] And there with ſtately pompe by heapes they wend, / And Chriſtians ſlaine rolle vp in webs of lead […]

    1. The blade of a sword.
       • 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Second Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 93, page 38:

         Argant a ſword, whereof the web was ſteele, / Pommell, rich ſtone ; hilts, gold, approu’d by tuch, / With rareſt workmanſhip all forged weele, / The curious art exceld the ſubſtance much.

    2. The blade of a saw.
    3. The thin, sharp part of a colter.
    4. The bit of a key.
20. (dated, US, radio, television) A major broadcasting network.
    • 1950, Billboard, volume 62, number 43, page 9:

      […] 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 […]

    • 1955, Billboard, page 5:

      ABC-TV this week put into effect its long anticipated plans to move into daytime programming in a bigger way by opening up its 4-5 across-the-board strip. The web is using its "Mickey Mouse Club," which is stoutly anchored in the 5-6 p.m. slot, as a backing up point for its afternoon expansion.

21. (architecture) A section of a groin vault, separated by ribs. (Can we clean up⁽⁾ this sense?)
22. (medicine, archaic) A cataract of the eye.

    Synonyms: pin and web, web and pin

23. (obsolete) Woven cloth or material.
24. (obsolete) A piece of cloth or fabric, as off the loom.
    • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 165:

      She was presented with webs of the finest cloth, and with boxes of precious ointments.

the web

2. Alternative letter-case form of Web: the World Wide Web.

   Let me search the web for that.

   • 2013 May 13, Oliver Burkeman, “Conscious computing: how to take control of your life online”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     No, the web probably isn't addictive in the sense that nicotine or heroin are; no, Facebook and Twitter aren't guilty of "killing conversation" or corroding real-life friendship or making children autistic.

web (third-person singular simple present webs, present participle webbing, simple past and past participle webbed)

1. (intransitive) To construct or form a web.
2. (transitive) To cover with a web or network.
   • 1853 June 21, R. C. Stone, “A New Insect”, in Simon Brown, editor, The New England Farmer, volume V, Boston: Raynolds & Nourse, page 362:

     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 […]

   • 1895, “Has Gold Risen?”, in The Forum, volume XVIII, New York: The Forum Publishing Co., page 577:

     In the meantime continents were being ribbed with railways, the atmosphere was being webbed with telegraph wires connecting every important commercial centre […]

3. (transitive) To ensnare or entangle.
4. (transitive) To provide with a web.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To weave.
   • 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:

     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.

• web on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Bew, EBW, WBE

Borrowed from English web.

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈwe̞p]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈwɛp]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈwep]

web m (plural webs)

1. web, net, internet
2. clipping of lloc web

web f (plural webs)

1. ellipsis of pàgina web

• “web”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Borrowed from English web.

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɛp]
• Rhymes: -ɛp
• Hyphenation: web

web m inan (relational adjective webový)

1. the World Wide Web, the Internet
2. web page

   Synonym: webová stránka

• “web”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): /ʋɛp/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: web
• Rhymes: -ɛp

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

web n (plural webben, diminutive webje n or webbetje n)

1. web (spiderweb)

• Afrikaans: web

Borrowed from English Web.

web n (uncountable, diminutive webje n)

1. (Internet) the Web, the World Wide Web

• “web” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]
• web on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

< English web

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋeb/, [ˈʋe̞b]
• IPA^(key): /ˈweb/, [ˈwe̞b]
• Rhymes: -eb

web

1. synonym of verkko (“web, www”)

• “web”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 14 May 2026

• IPA^(key): /wɛb/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

web m

1. alternative letter-case form of Web

Borrowed from English web. The sense of "webpage" may be influenced by Spanish web.

web f (countable and uncountable, plural webs) (Internet)

1. web (Internet)
2. (countable) webpage, website

   Synonyms: páxina, páxina web

• “web”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “web”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

web

1. singular imperative of weben
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of weben

Unadapted borrowing from English web.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɛb]
• Rhymes: -ɛb

web (plural webek)

1. (computing) web (Internet)

• webes

(Compound words):

• webalkalmazás
• webáruház
• webcím
• webergonómia
• webkamera
• weblap
• weboldal
• webszerver

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

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛb/ [ˈwɛp̚]
• Rhymes: -ɛb
• Syllabification: web

web (plural web-web)

1. (computing) web, the Web
2. (computing) network

   Synonyms: jejaring, jaringan

• “web”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Unadapted borrowing from English web.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛb/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛb
• Hyphenation: wèb

• Audio:

  (file)

web m (invariable)

1. (computing) web (Internet)

• WEB (WEB)

Borrowed from English web.

• IPA^(key): [β̞e̞bɯ̟]

web(ウェブ) • (webu) 

1. the Internet

   web(ウェブ)上(じょう)で公(こう)開(かい)された

   webu-jō de kōkai sareta

   made public online

   web(ウェブ)番(ばん)組(ぐみ)

   webu-bangumi

   online program

• Capitalization may follow English conventions.

From Old English webb,^[1] from Proto-West Germanic *wabi, from Proto-Germanic *wabją.

The Southwest Midland form weob shows a development of /ɛ/ into /œ/ under the influence of the preceding /w/ and the following labial (like hweolp, tweolf, weopmon).^[2]

• webb, webbe, webe, weob

• IPA^(key): /wɛb/

web (plural webbes)

1. Woven fabric; fabric manufactured by weaving.
2. A woven garment or belt.
3. A spiderweb (net created by a spider)
4. (by extension) A thin layer of material or tissue.
5. An opaque growth caused by disease or illness.

• English: web
• Scots: wab, wob

web

1. alternative form of webbe (“weaver”)

Unadapted borrowing from English web.

web f (uncountable)

1. the World Wide Web

   Synonyms: rede, Internet, net

• web-

• “web”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “web”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from English web.

• IPA^(key): /ˈw̝eb/ [ˈw̝eβ̞]
• Rhymes: -eb

web f or (uncommon) m (countable and uncountable, plural webs) (Internet)

1. web (Internet)
2. (countable) webpage, website

   Synonyms: página, página web

   • 2022 February 25, Manuel G. Pascual, “La ciberguerra de Rusia contra Ucrania nunca ha acabado [Russia's cyberwar against Ukraine never ended]”, in El País‎^[4]:

     La semana pasada se registraron también ciberataques dirigidos a las webs del Ministerio de Defensa ucranio, a la del ejército y a las de bancos estatales.

     Last week cyberattacks on the websites of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the army, and state banks were also recorded.

• “web”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “web”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Panhispanic Dictionary of Uncertainties] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, 2023, →ISBN
• “web”, in Diccionario del estudiante [Student Dictionary] (in Spanish), third edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2016
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “web”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA

Clipping of English website.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣwɛp̚˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣwɛp̚˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɣwɛp̚˦˥]
• Phonetic spelling: guép

(classifier cái, con) web (neologism)

1. website

   tạo một con web

   to create a website

From Old Frisian webb, from Proto-Germanic *wabją.

• IPA^(key): /vɛp/

web n (plural webben, diminutive webke)

1. web
2. World Wide Web

• spinneweb
• webside

• “web”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011