web - Weedy

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Coloq. Pin and web (Med.), two diseases of the eye, caligo and pterygium; -- sometimes wrongly explained as one disease. See , n., 8, and , n., 8. “He never yet had pinne or webbe, his sight for to decay.” Gascoigne. -- Coloq. Web member (Engin.), one of the braces in a web system. -- Coloq. Web press , a printing press which takes paper from a roll instead of being fed with sheets. -- Coloq. Web system (Engin.), the system of braces connecting the flanges of a lattice girder, post, or the like.
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web (wĕb), n. The ; -- usually referred to as the web.
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Web (wĕb), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Webbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Webbing.] To unite or surround with a web, or as if with a web; to envelop; to entangle.
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Webbed (?), a. 1. Provided with a web.
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2. (Zoöl.) Having the toes united by a membrane, or web; as, the webbed feet of aquatic fowls.
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Webber (?), n. One who forms webs; a weaver; a webster. [Obs.]
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Webbing (?), n. A woven band of cotton or flax, used for reins, girths, bed bottoms, etc.
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Webby (?), a. Of or pertaining to a web or webs; like a web; filled or covered with webs.
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Bats on their webby wings in darkness move. Crabbe.
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Weber (?), n. [From the name of Professor Weber, a German electrician.] (Elec.) The standard unit of electrical quantity, and also of current. See , and . [Obs.]
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Webeye (?), n. (Med.) See , n., 8.
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Web-fingered (?), a. Having the fingers united by a web for a considerable part of their length.
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Webfoot (?), n.; pl. Webfeet (�).
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1. A foot the toes of which are connected by a membrane.
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2. (Zoöl.) Any web-footed bird.
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Web-footed, a. Having webbed feet; palmiped; as, a goose or a duck is a web-footed fowl.
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Webster (?), n. [AS. webbestre. See , , and .] A weaver; originally, a female weaver. [Obs.] Brathwait.
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Websterite (?), n. [So named after Webster, the geologist.] (Min.) A hydrous sulphate of alumina occurring in white reniform masses.
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Web-toed (?), a. Having the toes united by a web for a considerable part of their length.
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Webworm (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of various species of moths whose gregarious larvæ eat the leaves of trees, and construct a large web to which they retreat when not feeding.
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☞ The most destructive webworms belong to the family Bombycidæ, as the fall webworm (Hyphantria textor), which feeds on various fruit and forest trees, and the common tent caterpillar, which feeds on various fruit trees (see Tent caterpillar, under .) The grapevine webworm is the larva of a geometrid moth (see Vine inchworm, under ).
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Wed (wĕd), n. [AS. wedd; akin to OFries. wed, OD. wedde, OHG, wetti, G. wette a wager, Icel. veð a pledge, Sw. vad a wager, an appeal, Goth. wadi a pledge, Lith. vadůti to redeem (a pledge), LL. vadium, L. vas, vadis, bail, security, vadimonium security, and Gr. �, � a prize. Cf. , a pledge, .] A pledge; a pawn. [Obs.] Gower. Piers Plowman.
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Let him be ware, his neck lieth to wed [i. e., for a security]. Chaucer.
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Wed, v. t. [imp. Wedded; p. p. Wedded or Wed; p. pr. & vb. n. Wedding.] [OE. wedden, AS. weddian to covenant, promise, to wed, marry; akin to OFries. weddia to promise, D. wedden to wager, to bet, G. wetten, Icel. veðja, Dan. vedde, Sw. vädja to appeal, Goth. gawadjōn to betroth. See , n.]
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1. To take for husband or for wife by a formal ceremony; to marry; to espouse.
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With this ring I thee wed. Bk. of Com. Prayer.
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I saw thee first, and wedded thee. Milton.
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2. To join in marriage; to give in wedlock.
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And Adam, wedded to another Eve,
Shall live with her. Milton.
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3. Fig.: To unite as if by the affections or the bond of marriage; to attach firmly or indissolubly.
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Thou art wedded to calamity. Shak.
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Men are wedded to their lusts. Tillotson.
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[Flowers] are wedded thus, like beauty to old age. Cowper.
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4. To take to one's self and support; to espouse. [Obs.]
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They positively and concernedly wedded his cause. Clarendon.
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Wed (?), v. i. To contact matrimony; to marry. “When I shall wed.” Shak.
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Weddahs (?), n. pl. (Ethnol.) See .
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Wedded (?), a. 1. Joined in wedlock; married.
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Let w�alth, let honor, wait the wedded dame. Pope.
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2. Of or pertaining to wedlock, or marriage. “Wedded love.” Milton.
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Wedder (?), n. See . Sir W. Scott.
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Wedding (?), n. [AS. wedding.] Nuptial ceremony; nuptial festivities; marriage; nuptials.
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Simple and brief was the wedding, as that of Ruth and of Boaz. Longfellow.
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☞ Certain anniversaries of an unbroken marriage have received fanciful, and more or less appropriate, names. Thus, the fifth anniversary is called the wooden wedding; the tenth, the tin wedding; the fifteenth, the crystal wedding; the twentieth, the china wedding; the twenty-fifth, the silver wedding; the fiftieth, the golden wedding; the sixtieth, the diamond wedding. These anniversaries are often celebrated by appropriate presents of wood, tin, china, silver, gold, etc., given by friends.
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☞ Wedding is often used adjectively; as, wedding cake, wedding cards, wedding clothes, wedding day, wedding feast, wedding guest, wedding ring, etc.
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Let her beauty be her wedding dower. Shak.
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Coloq. Wedding favor , a marriage favor. See under .
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Weder (?), n. Weather. [Obs.] Chaucer.
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Wedge (wĕj), n. [OE. wegge, AS. wecg; akin to D. wig, wigge, OHG. wecki, G. weck a (wedge-shaped) loaf, Icel. veggr, Dan. vægge, Sw. vigg, and probably to Lith. vagis a peg. Cf. .]
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1. A piece of metal, or other hard material, thick at one end, and tapering to a thin edge at the other, used in splitting wood, rocks, etc., in raising heavy bodies, and the like. It is one of the six elementary machines called the mechanical powers. See Illust. of Mechanical powers, under .
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2. (Geom.) A solid of five sides, having a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends.
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3. A mass of metal, especially when of a wedgelike form. “Wedges of gold.” Shak.
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4. Anything in the form of a wedge, as a body of troops drawn up in such a form.
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In warlike muster they appear,
In rhombs, and wedges, and half-moons, and wings. Milton.
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5. The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos; -- so called after a person (Wedgewood) who occupied this position on the first list of 1828. [Cant, Cambridge Univ., Eng.] C. A. Bristed.
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6. (Golf) A golf club having an iron head with the face nearly horizontal, used for lofting the golf ball at a high angle, as when hitting the ball out of a sand trap or the rough.
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Coloq. Fox wedge . (Mach. & Carpentry) See under . -- Coloq. Spherical wedge (Geom.), the portion of a sphere included between two planes which intersect in a diameter.
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Wedge, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wedged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Wedging.]
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1. To cleave or separate with a wedge or wedges, or as with a wedge; to rive. “My heart, as wedged with a sigh, would rive in twain.” Shak.
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2. To force or drive as a wedge is driven.
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Among the crowd in the abbey where a finger
Could not be wedged in more. Shak.
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He 's just the sort of man to wedge himself into a snug berth. Mrs. J. H. Ewing.
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3. To force by crowding and pushing as a wedge does; as, to wedge one's way. Milton.
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4. To press closely; to fix, or make fast, in the manner of a wedge that is driven into something.
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Wedged in the rocky shoals, and sticking fast. Dryden.
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5. To fasten with a wedge, or with wedges; as, to wedge a scythe on the snath; to wedge a rail or a piece of timber in its place.
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6. (Pottery) To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work by dashing together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc. Tomlinson.
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Wedgebill (?), n. (Zoöl.) An Australian crested insessorial bird (Sphenostoma cristatum) having a wedge-shaped bill. Its color is dull brown, like the earth of the plains where it lives.
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Wedge-formed (?), a. Having the form of a wedge; cuneiform.
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Coloq. Wedge-formed characters , Coloq. Wedge-shaped characters . See Arrow-headed characters, under , and cf. .
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{ wedge gauge or wedge gage }. A wedge with a graduated edge, to measure the width of a space into which it is thrust.
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Wedge gear. A friction gear wheel with wedge-shaped circumferential grooves. -- Wedge gearing.
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Wedge-shaped (?), a. 1. Having the shape of a wedge; cuneiform.
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2. (Bot.) Broad and truncate at the summit, and tapering down to the base; as, a wedge-shaped leaf.
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Wedge-shell (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of small marine bivalves belonging to Donax and allied genera in which the shell is wedge-shaped.
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Wedge-tailed (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having a tail which has the middle pair of feathers longest, the rest successively and decidedly shorter, and all more or less attenuate; -- said of certain birds. See Illust. of Wood hoopoe, under .
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Coloq. Wedge-tailed eagle , an Australian eagle (Aquila audax) which feeds on various small species of kangaroos, and on lambs; -- called also mountain eagle, bold eagle, and eagle hawk. -- Coloq. Wedge-tailed gull , an arctic gull (Rhodostethia rosea) in which the plumage is tinged with rose; -- called also Ross's gull.
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Wedgewise (?), adv. In the manner of a wedge.
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Wedgwood ware (?). [From the name of the inventor, Josiah Wedgwood, of England.] A kind of fine pottery, the most remarkable being what is called jasper, either white, or colored throughout the body, and capable of being molded into the most delicate forms, so that fine and minute bas-reliefs like cameos were made of it, fit even for being set as jewels.
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Wedgy (?), a. Like a wedge; wedge-shaped.
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Wedlock (?), n. [AS. wedlāc a pledge, be trothal; wedd a pledge + lāc a gift, an offering. See , n., and cf. , v. i., .]
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1. The ceremony, or the state, of marriage; matrimony. “That blissful yoke . . . that men clepeth [call] spousal, or wedlock.” Chaucer.
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For what is wedlock forced but a hell,
An age of discord or continual strife? Shak.
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2. A wife; a married woman. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
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Syn. -- See .
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Wedlock, v. t. To marry; to unite in marriage; to wed. [R.] “Man thus wedlocked.” Milton.
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Wednesday (?; 48), n. [OE. wednesdai, wodnesdei, AS. Wōdnes dæg, i. e., Woden's day (a translation of L. dies Mercurii); fr. Wōden the highest god of the Teutonic peoples, but identified with the Roman god Mercury; akin to OS. Wōdan, OHG. Wuotan, Icel. Oðinn, D. woensdag Wednesday, Icel. ōðinsdagr, Dan. & Sw. onsdag. See , and cf. , , a.] The fourth day of the week; the next day after Tuesday.
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Coloq. Ash Wednesday . See in the Vocabulary.
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Wee (?), n. [OE. we a bit, in a little we, probably originally meaning, a little way, the word we for wei being later taken as synonymous with little. See .] A little; a bit, as of space, time, or distance. [Obs. or Scot.]
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Wee, a. Very small; little. [Colloq. & Scot.]
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A little wee face, with a little yellow beard. Shak.
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Weech-elm (?), n. (Bot.) The wych-elm. [Obs.] Bacon.
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Weed (wēd), n. [OE. wede, AS. wǣde, wǣd; akin to OS. wādi, giwādi, OFries, wēde, wēd, OD. wade, OHG. wāt, Icel. vāð, Zend vadh to clothe.]
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1. A garment; clothing; especially, an upper or outer garment. “Lowly shepherd's weeds.” Spenser. “Woman's weeds.” Shak. “This beggar woman's weed.” Tennyson.
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He on his bed sat, the soft weeds he wore
Put off. Chapman.
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2. An article of dress worn in token of grief; a mourning garment or badge; as, he wore a weed on his hat; especially, in the plural, mourning garb, as of a woman; as, a widow's weeds.
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In a mourning weed, with ashes upon her head, and tears abundantly flowing. Milton.
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Weed, n. A sudden illness or relapse, often attended with fever, which attacks women in childbed. [Scot.]
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Weed, n. [OE. weed, weod, AS. weód, wiód, akin to OS. wiod, LG. woden the stalks and leaves of vegetables D. wieden to weed, OS. wiodōn.]
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1. Underbrush; low shrubs. [Obs. or Archaic]
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One rushing forth out of the thickest weed. Spenser.
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A wild and wanton pard . . .
Crouched fawning in the weed. Tennyson.
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2. Any plant growing in cultivated ground to the injury of the crop or desired vegetation, or to the disfigurement of the place; an unsightly, useless, or injurious plant.
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Too much manuring filled that field with weeds. Denham.
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☞ The word has no definite application to any particular plant, or species of plants. Whatever plants grow among corn or grass, in hedges, or elsewhere, and are useless to man, injurious to crops, or unsightly or out of place, are denominated weeds.
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3. Fig.: Something unprofitable or troublesome; anything useless.
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4. (Stock Breeding) An animal unfit to breed from.
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5. Tobacco, or a cigar. [Slang]
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Coloq. Weed hook , a hook used for cutting away or extirpating weeds. Tusser.
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Weed, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Weeded; p. pr. & vb. n. Weeding.] [AS. weódian. See 3d .]
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1. To free from noxious plants; to clear of weeds; as, to weed corn or onions; to weed a garden.
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2. To take away, as noxious plants; to remove, as something hurtful; to extirpate; -- commonly used with out; as, to weed out inefficiency from an enterprise. “Weed up thyme.” Shak.
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Wise fathers . . . weeding from their children ill things. Ascham.
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Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. Bacon.
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3. To free from anything hurtful or offensive.
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He weeded the kingdom of such as were devoted to Elaiana. Howell.
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4. (Stock Breeding) To reject as unfit for breeding purposes.
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Weeder (?), n. One who, or that which, weeds, or frees from anything noxious.
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Weedery (?), n. Weeds, collectively; also, a place full of weeds or for growing weeds. [R.] Dr. H. More.
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Weeding, a. & n. from , v.
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Coloq. Weeding chisel , a tool with a divided chisel-like end, for cutting the roots of large weeds under ground. -- Coloq. Weeding forceps , an instrument for taking up some sorts of plants in weeding. -- Coloq. Weeding fork , a strong, three-pronged fork, used in clearing ground of weeds; -- called also weeding iron. -- Coloq. Weeding hook . Same as Weed hook, under 3d . -- Coloq. Weeding iron . See Weeding fork, above. -- Coloq. Weeding tongs . Same as Weeding forceps, above.
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Weeding-rhim (?), n. [Cf. Prov. E. rim to remove.] A kind of implement used for tearing up weeds esp. on summer fallows. [Prov. Eng.]
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Weedless, a. 1. Free from weeds or noxious matter.
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2. Free from weeds; -- said of a kind of motor-boat propeller the blades of which curve backwardly, as respects the direction of rotation, so that they draw through the water, and so do not gather weeds with which they come in contact.
[Webster Suppl.]

Weed out, v. t. to selectively remove; same as , v. t.; -- of things that are useless or harmful.
[PJC]

Weedy (?), a. [Compar. Weedier (?); superl. Weediest.]
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1. Of or pertaining to weeds; consisting of weeds. “Weedy trophies.” Shak.
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2. Abounding with weeds; as, weedy grounds; a weedy garden; weedy corn.
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See from the weedy earth a rivulet break. Bryant.
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3. Scraggy; ill-shaped; ungainly; -- said of colts or horses, and also of persons. [Colloq.]
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Weedy, a. Dressed in weeds, or mourning garments. [R. or Colloq.]
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She was as weedy as in the early days of her mourning. Dickens.
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