cellar spidern.
/ˈsɛlə ˌspʌɪdə/, U.S. /ˈsɛlər ˌspaɪdər/ 1. Any of various Eurasian spiders belonging to Segestria and other genera, which inhabit cellars, caves, cracks in walls, underground holes, and other dark places. Now rare.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > miscellaneous types > segestria cellaris
cellar spider1761
cave-spider1861
1761 Universal Mag. Dec. 373/2 The cellar-spiders, and those that make their nests in old walls, have but six eyes, all the other kinds having eight.
1793 T. Martyn Aranei 28 A[raneus] Cellulinus. Cellar-spider. On the 30th of September, one female was found in a dark and moist corner of the cellar, among a heap of things which had been thrown there.
1811 Jrnl. Nat. Philos., Chem., & Arts Sept. 14 The little spider called by Linnæus senoculata, the cellar spider.
1878 Chicago Med. Times Oct. 339 The tincture of cellar-spider web is a direct remedy in periodical fever of a hectic character, persistent ague with nervousness or hysterical complications, with a full pulse.
1920 Cent. Mag. Apr. 814/1 The common black spider, or cellar spider..is a deep black all over, excepting the mandibles, which are a splendid metallic green.
2009 D. Strickman et al. Prevention Bug Bites, Stings, & Dis. xiii. 248 (table) Cellar spider. Segestriidae. Segestria florentina.
2. Chiefly North American. Any of various spiders of the genus Pholcus or (more widely) the cosmopolitan family Pholcidae, esp. P. phalangioides, having long, thin legs and a small grey or brown body with darker markings, commonly inhabiting dark recesses and undisturbed areas, esp. in buildings, where they construct irregular, tangled webs. Cf. daddy-long-legs n. 3.
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1878 J. H. Emerton Struct. & Habits Spiders 60 Pholcus, the long-legged cellar-spider..has a curious habit when alarmed.
1890 H. C. McCook Amer. Spiders II. 236 Pholcus phalangioides, the ‘daddy longlegs’ or cellar spider..carries her bundle of eggs in her jaws until the little ones are ready to hatch.
1949 W. Duncan Webs in Wind vii. 87 I go down to visit the cellar spiders. They are moving slowly about, pawing the air, tearing down portions of the web, losing their foothold and falling an inch, as usual.
2009 K. Caswell Inside Passage 2 We clean behind the refrigerator (because it isn't our dirt) and discover the secret web-work of the ubiquitous cellar spider.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1761