Web system

Web \Web\, n. [OE. web, AS. webb; akin to D. web, webbe, OHG.
   weppi, G. gewebe, Icel. vefr, Sw. v[aum]f, Dan. v[ae]v. See
   {Weave}.]
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   1. That which is woven; a texture; textile fabric; esp.,
      something woven in a loom.
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            Penelope, for her Ulysses' sake,
            Devised a web her wooers to deceive.  --Spenser.
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            Not web might be woven, not a shuttle thrown, or
            penalty of exile.                     --Bancroft.
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   2. A whole piece of linen cloth as woven.
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   3. The texture of very fine thread spun by a spider for
      catching insects at its prey; a cobweb. "The smallest
      spider's web." --Shak.
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   4. Fig.: Tissue; texture; complicated fabrication.
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            The somber spirit of our forefathers, who wove their
            web of life with hardly a . . . thread of rose-color
            or gold.                              --Hawthorne.
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            Such has been the perplexing ingenuity of
            commentators that it is difficult to extricate the
            truth from the web of conjectures.    --W. Irving.
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   5. (Carriages) A band of webbing used to regulate the
      extension of the hood.
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   6. A thin metal sheet, plate, or strip, as of lead.
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            And Christians slain roll up in webs of lead.
                                                  --Fairfax.
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      (a) The blade of a sword. [Obs.]
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                The sword, whereof the web was steel,
                Pommel rich stone, hilt gold.     --Fairfax.
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      (b) The blade of a saw.
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      (c) The thin, sharp part of a colter.
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      (d) The bit of a key.
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   7. (Mach. & Engin.) A plate or thin portion, continuous or
      perforated, connecting stiffening ribs or flanges, or
      other parts of an object. Specifically: 
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      (a) The thin vertical plate or portion connecting the
          upper and lower flanges of an lower flanges of an iron
          girder, rolled beam, or railroad rail.
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      (b) A disk or solid construction serving, instead of
          spokes, for connecting the rim and hub, in some kinds
          of car wheels, sheaves, etc.
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      (c) The arm of a crank between the shaft and the wrist.
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      (d) The part of a blackmith's anvil between the face and
          the foot.
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   8. (Med.) Pterygium; -- called also {webeye}. --Shak.
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   9. (Anat.) The membrane which unites the fingers or toes,
      either at their bases, as in man, or for a greater part of
      their length, as in many water birds and amphibians.
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   10. (Zool.) 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. See {Feather}.
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   {Pin and web} (Med.), two diseases of the eye, caligo and
      pterygium; -- sometimes wrongly explained as one disease.
      See {Pin}, n., 8, and {Web}, n., 8. "He never yet had
      pinne or webbe, his sight for to decay." --Gascoigne.

   {Web member} (Engin.), one of the braces in a web system.

   {Web press}, a printing press which takes paper from a roll
      instead of being fed with sheets.

   {Web system} (Engin.), the system of braces connecting the
      flanges of a lattice girder, post, or the like.
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