red spider
- noun
- /rɛd ˈspaɪdər/
- UK
:
araña roja
- I found a red spider on my tomato plant.
Examples
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The apple orchard was infested with red spiders, damaging the leaves and fruit.
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In the greenhouse, the red spider infestation was quickly addressed with organic pest control methods.
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A close inspection revealed tiny red spiders spinning webs on the underside of the leaves.
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Gardeners often spray to control red spider populations in greenhouses.
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The red spider is damaging my garden.
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The gardener discovered a few red spider mites on the leaves, which he needed to remove to save his plants.
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People often confuse red spiders with harmless insects, but they can cause serious damage to crops.
Synonyms
27
6.3
A very small animal like a tiny spider that lives on animals, plants, or in food
1
6.4
A tiny bug that spins fine webs and feeds on plant leaves
A tiny spider-like animal that makes fine webs and eats plant juice, damaging leaves
A very small spider-like animal that makes webs and damages fruit trees in orchards
A tiny animal that makes fine webs on plant leaves and eats them
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'red' (a color) + 'spider' (an arachnid), so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer it refers to a spider-like creature that is red; in context (gardening) they can reasonably identify it as a red pest. The compound follows a common and cross-linguistic color + noun pattern, making the referent predictable from its parts.
Etymology
Red spider may come from how these tiny, red mites make thin webs and look like little spiders on the underside of leaves. So the name refers to these small web-spinning creatures that 'damage' plants.