WEBWORM
Web"worm`, n. (Zoöl.)
Defn: 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.
Note: 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 Tent.) The grapevine webworm is the larva of a geometrid moth (see Vine inchworm, under Vine).
WED Wed (wêd), n. Etym: [AS. wedd; akin to OFries. wed, OD. wedde, OHG, wetti, G. wette a wager, Icel. veedh a pledge, Sw. vad a wager, an appeal, Goth. wadi a pledge, Lith. vaduti to redeem (a pledge), LL. vadium, L. vas, vadis, bail, security, vadimonium security, and Gr. Athlete, Gage a pledge, Wage.]
Defn: A pledge; a pawn. [Obs.] Gower. Piers Plowman.
Let him be ware, his neck lieth to wed [i. e., for a security].
Chaucer.
WED Wed, v. t. [imp. Wedded; p. p. Wedded or Wed; p. pr. & vb. n. Wedding.] Etym: [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. veedhja, Dan. vedde, Sw. vädja to appeal, Goth. gawadjon to betroth. See Wed, n.]
1. To take for husband or for wife by a formal ceremony; to marry; to
espouse.
With this ring I thee wed. Bk. of Com. Prayer.
I saw thee first, and wedded thee. Milton.
2. To join in marriage; to give in wedlock. And Adam, wedded to another Eve, Shall live with her. Milton.
3. Fig.: To unite as if by the affections or the bond of marriage; to attach firmly or indissolubly. Thou art wedded to calamity. Shak. Men are wedded to their lusts. Tillotson. [Flowers] are wedded thus, like beauty to old age. Cowper.
4. To take to one's self and support; to espouse. [Obs.] They positively and concernedly wedded his cause. Clarendon.