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to spiderweb

to spiderweb

5.3
To cover something with thin lines like a spider's web
  • verb
  • /ˈspaɪdərˌwɛb/
translation icon : tejer
  • The cracks spiderweb out from the center of the old mirror after it was dropped.

Examples

  • Her story spiderwebs various themes of loss and redemption, connecting each character's journey.

  • The shattered glass spiderwebs across the surface, creating a beautiful yet dangerous pattern.

  • A bullet spiderwebs the side window.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • A bullet spiderwebs the rear window.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The brick explodes into the windshield, spiderwebbing the glass.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

to web
vsto spiderweb
1 6.8

To make a thin net of threads over something

spreads or covers in a netlike pattern usable in literal or figurative senses
to spider
vsto spiderweb
1 7.5

To spread out in thin lines across a surface like a web

focuses on covering or creating a netlike spread rather than movement
to cobwebbing
vsto spiderweb
8.2

To get covered with spider webs or to cover something with them when not used and not cleaned

means general netlike covering not only old neglected accumulation

Antonyms

38 4.3

To come apart into threads, like a rope or cloth

How Covered

to blanket
28 4.2
to spiderweb
5.3
to streak
22 2.8

Surface Forms

spiderweb infinitive
spiderwebbed past participle
spiderwebbing present participle
spiderwebs third person singular

Morphology

spiderweb = spiderweb (semi-transparent) = spider + web

The verb is clearly based on the noun 'spiderweb', but the action meaning is a metaphorical extension rather than a fully literal compositional sense.

Etymology

Spiderweb as a verb comes from the noun and means to 'cover' or 'spread' in a web-like pattern, like dust or cracks that form many thin lines like a spider's web. So when something is said to 'spiderweb' across a surface, it makes a net of small lines or connections.