spidership

spidership

English

Etymology

spider +‎ -ship

Noun

spidership

1. (nonce word) honorific used to address or refer to a spider.
   • 1916, Caroline Saxe Shunk, An Army Woman in the Philippines: Extracts from Letters of an Army Officer's Wife, page 86:

     When I saw her spidership my war-cry would have turned a Filipino bolo-man green with envy.

   • 1893, Charles Valentine Riley, Leland Ossian Howard, Insect Life - Volume 5, page 348:

     A companion at once crushed his spidership, for which on afterthought I was sorry, as I should like to have cut the spider for examination.

   • 1884, The Reformed Presbyterian and Covenanter - Volumes 22-23, page 332:

     A friend, who was specially interested in such studies, having captured a spider, erected a column in a basin filled with water; and placing his spidership on the top of the column, sat down to watch results.

2. (nonce word) The state or quality of being a spider.
   • 1959, Walt Kelly, Pogo, May 23 comic strip (→ISBN, p. 43):

     [Moth about the Dog:] Bein' a bug is all a matter of legs [...] Four more an' he [could have] made spidership.