webbedadj.
/wɛbd/, U.S. /wɛbd/ 1. Of eyes: covered or partly covered by an opaque or translucent web or film. Cf. web n. 12a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [adjective] > film or web
webbeda1500
filmed1637
filmy1642
horn-eyed1838
a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 98 (MED) Eyen webbed or perled, þei ben lerned with bad craftes.
1606 J. Carpenter Schelomonocham viii. 32 I was wel tried to be neither blind,..nor bleared in mine eyes, nor eyes webbed or blemished.
1935 R. Davies Honey & Bread ii. 90 A fixed glimmer took possession of her webbed eyes.
1968 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 36/2 Became aged, crippled, deathly, her webbed eyes surrounding feelings for children not yet born.
1997 TriQuarterly Winter A tall, lean, stately man, with..large webbed eyes dark with brooding behind old-fashioned, gold-rimmed spectacles.
2.
a. Of a part in an animal body: connected to an adjacent part by a web or membrane, typically a fold of skin. Also: having component parts so connected; esp. designating feet having the toes so connected, as in many aquatic birds and mammals, amphibians, etc.; (of antlers) = palmate adj. 1; Botany (of leaves or fronds) not divided.Cf. web v. 4a, web-footed adj. 1. Cf. also palmated adj. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > of feet > having webbed feet
fin-footed1646
palmipedous1646
palmiped1661
webbed1664
palmated1766
palmate1826
totipalmate1872
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [adjective] > of feet > having feet > web-footed > webbed
kelled1630
webbed1664
webby1686
palmated1766
palmate1826
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Mollusca > [adjective] > of parts of molluscs > having connecting membrane (of arms)
webbed1851
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 5 The Common Fly..her wings look like a Sea-fan with black thick ribs or fibers, dispers'd and branch'd through them, which are webb'd between with a thin membrane or film, like a slice of Muscovy-glasse.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. iii. 60 This Bird is the same which our Seamen and Fowlers call the Osprey, and affirm to have one flat or webbed foot to swim withal, after the manner of a Goose or other Water-fowl, the other being divided after the manner of other Birds of prey.
1698 W. King Journey to London 21 A very large Wood Frog, with the extremity of the Toes webbed.
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 446 The Colymbus with webbed feet, and three toes to each. The Sea-turtle.
1773 T. Pennant Genera of Birds p. xi The toes of birds that swim are either plain,..or pinnated,..or entirely webbed or palmated.
1816 J. K. Tuckey Narr. Exped. River Zaire (1818) ii. 47 Three toes full webbed, the fourth toe..quite free.
1851 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca i. 71 Arms (except the ventral pair), webbed high up.
1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species vi. 185 What can be plainer than that the webbed feet of ducks and geese are formed for swimming?
1923 F. O. Bower Ferns v. 85 In deeply cut leaves the two may coincide, but in fully webbed leaves the margin may be quite entire.
1954 Boys' Life Dec. 61/1 One wolf, caught on webbed antlers, sailed through the air, yelping.
1987 J. E. Twining Mute Swans Atlantic Coast v. 33 Again in landing these webbed feet become important as the swans glide in from flight and present their feet as ‘water skis’ to brake the landing.
2009 Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 13/1 Rabb's fringe-limbed tree frog from Panama, which uses its large, webbed hands and feet to sail down from the canopy, is also seeing its habitat wiped out by deforestation.
b. Medicine. Having a fold of skin or other membrane connecting parts (typically fingers or toes) normally separate, esp. as a congenital malformation. Cf. web n. 13b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > deformities of specific parts > [adjective] > webbed digits
web-fingered1745
webbed1751
syndactylized1908
1751 R. Morris Narr. Life John Daniel xviii. 257 The rings would not go over their webbed fingers.
1781 Scots Mag. 43 40/1 In order to aid these powers of enduring in the deep, nature seemed to have assisted him in a very extraordinary manner: for the spaces between his fingers and toes were webbed, as in a goose.
1862 E. J. Chance Bodily Deform. i. 86 The Fingers or Toes may be more or less webbed together.
1876 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. (ed. 2) II. xxix. 300 Webbed fingers and toes are another common deformity.
1913 W. A. N. Dorland Illustr. Med. Dict. (ed. 7) at Penis Webbed penis, a penis that is inclosed by the skin of the scrotum.
1964 T. D. Cronin in J. M. Converse Reconstructive Plastic Surg. III. 1185/2 These girls..may have, in addition to the dwarfism, webbed neck with low, wide hairline, webbed elbows and knees, epicanthal folds, malformation of the mandible..and mental retardation.
2004 Daily Tel. 26 Mar. 11/4 The piece..shows a number of supernatural marks, the auspicious characteristics of Buddhahood, including the skull protuberance and webbed fingers.
c. Of an item of clothing, esp. sportswear: having folds or flaps of material connecting each part or section to the next, chiefly in order to increase surface area.
ΚΠ
1891 Lawrence (Kansas) Daily Jrnl. 8 Oct. With the webbed glove..the swimmer will then be web fingered.
1940 North-China Herald 4 Sept. 372/1 He experimented in Australian State [cricket] matches with a webbed glove, the fingers of which were joined together.
1961 Newport (Rhode Island) Daily News 18 Sept. 11/3 In this form of parachuting the jumper wears a special suit, webbed from wrist to ankle.
2013 N.Y. Times Mag. 28 July 22/1 Le Gallou was wearing a wingsuit, a webbed all-in-one that has transformed base jumping.
3. Covered with or consisting of cobweb; having an appearance likened to this; Botany = arachnoid adj. 1.Cf. earlier cobwebbed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > hair or bristle > [adjective] > having hair > cobweb-like
araneous1656
webbed1790
cobwebbed1828
arachnoid1857
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [adjective] > of or belonging to Araneida > covered with web
webbed1790
the world > space > relative position > fact or condition of being transverse > intersection > [adjective] > like a net or network > like cobweb > covered as with cobweb
webbed1862
1790 W. Bligh Narr. Mutiny on Bounty 51 The blackberry bushes were full of ants nests, webbed as a spider's, but so close and compact as not to admit the rain.
1810 Splendid Follies I. 110 The tender blades of trefoil were still webbed in silvery gossamer.
1845 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 218 Heads half an inch in diameter, with deep purple corollas, the scales webbed and glutinous on the back.
1862 G. W. Thornbury Life J. M. W. Turner I. 360 There were skies of an orange purple, skies webbed with grey showers.
1905 E. T. Thurston Traffic ii. ii Only the gaunt, gray forms of the stunted poplars stood out, webbed, against the leaden colour of the sky.
1963 H. W. Rickett New Field Bk. Amer. Wild Flowers 342 V[ernonia] missurica (4–5 ft.) has a webbed involucre like that of V. baldwini.
2006 New Yorker 15 May 35/2 Although the painting was webbed with centuries of craquelure, the sailor's face was unblemished.
4. Of an object: having a supporting or connecting structure consisting of a panel or plate. Cf. web n. 21.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lifting or hoisting equipment > [adjective] > of a sheave: having a partition
webbed1794
the world > space > relative position > support > [adjective] > supported > with steel plates
webbed1913
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 154 Sheaves..are made..of iron, with a brass coak, either open or webbed.
1898 Machinery Feb. 175/1 It has webbed wheels which prevent the strips which are being punched from getting in the revolving mechanism.
1913 J. B. Bishop Panama Gateway v. iii. 365 Each [lock gate] is a huge webbed steel box, the girders of which are covered with a steel sheathing.
2005 R. Slavid Wood Archit. 15/3 A webbed beam will use solid timber or structural timber composites for the top and bottom flanges, and plywood or other board material..for the web.
5. Of a belt, strap, etc.: made of woven fabric, esp. of a strong, reinforced type such as webbing (webbing n. 2b).
ΚΠ
1838 Huron Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) 11 Dec. Gum elastic, worsted and webbed Suspenders.
1896 Hampshire Tel. & Sussex Chron. 21 Mar. 2/7 It [sc. an apparatus for teaching swimming] consists of a pole fixed across the bath, from which depend a number of ropes, to the ends of which are fixed webbed bands.
1922 Boys' Life Apr. 24/1 Is a boy not a Boy Scout allowed to have a scout webbed belt? If so where may I obtain one?
1995 Your Baby Winter 12/2 Chairs need a T-harness that comes up between the baby's legs and circles her waist. Webbed polyester harness straps are the strongest.
2005 J. MacGregor Sunday Money ii. 44 Shoulders, hips, and peevish man-tackle all have their own heavy, webbed belts to secure them.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
adj.a1500