weavern.1
/ˈwiːvə/, U.S. /ˈwivər/ 1.
a. One who weaves textile fabrics; a workman or workwoman whose occupation is weaving.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > one who
webber1255
weaver1362
textour1558
loom-flittera1657
loom-worker1659
textilist1855
shuttler1870
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. Prol. 99 Wollene websteris and weueris of lynen.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Job vii. 6 My daȝes swiftliere passiden than of the weuere the web is kut of.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert l. 31 Þe apostell, whech was a weuer of cloth.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. i. sig. Avv A wayuer or fuller, shulde be an unmete capitaine of an armie.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 132 I would I were a weauer. I could sing psalmes, or any thing. View more context for this quotation
1638 Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876) 388 The wiveris friemen within this burgh feirit that [etc.].
1675 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 80 Last week there was ane uproar in London occationed by the weavers.
1765 H. Walpole Let. to H. Mann 25 May Many thousand Weavers rose, on a bill for their relief being thrown out of the House of Lords.
1768 True Copy Poll City Oxf. 16 Mitchel, James, Wytham, Weaver.
c1778 Life Capt. Socivizca 28 Every Wallachian Man is his own Cartwright, and every Woman a Weaver for her own Family.
1854 C. Tomlinson Cycl. Useful Arts II. 955/2 The weaver..pressing with one foot on one of the treadles,..lowers one of the healds, [etc.].
1871 C. Gibbon For Lack of Gold v The weavers obtained employment principally from the manufacturers of Kingshaven.
1892 Labour Commission Gloss. Weavers, women employed in the manufacture of cloth.
b. One who plaits. Also Scottish, one who knits.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > barbers and hairdressers > [noun] > who plaits
weaver1783
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > knitting > one who
knitter?1518
knitster1648
weaver1825
tricoteuse1828
machine-knitter1927
1783 European Mag. & London Rev. Sept. 176 Betty got the hair wove into a tail at the..wig-makers..assuring the nimble-fingered weaver, it was for herself.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Weaver, wyver,..a knitter of stockings, Aberd.
2. figurative. One who weaves, in metaphorical senses of the verb; one who contrives, constructs, etc. (something specified).In the first quot. the word may be misread for wenere weener n.
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the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > invention, devising > [noun] > one who contrives or invents
upfinder1430
weaverc1430
engineer?a1513
deviser1523
inventor1555
artificer1569
setter1600
contrivera1652
concoctor1843
c1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 77 Þanne comeþ forþ good hope; To saue man he wolde fonde: ‘Þou wronge weuere ouerhope! I make him free, þou woldist make him bonde.’
1587 M. Grove Pelops & Hippodamia (1878) 73 Yet say not naythelesse that I..am the weauer of your woe.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 222 Sedentary weavers of long tales, Give me the fidgets.
1885 E. Clodd Myths & Dreams i. iii. 20 The savage is not a conscious weaver of allegories.
1905 J. B. Firth Highways & Byways in Derbyshire xvi. 245 A weaver of rhymes.
3. Scottish. A spider.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > member of (spider)
lopc888
attercopc1000
lobc1000
spinnerc1220
araina1300
spider1340
yraync1384
copa1400
spincop1474
copspin1484
ettercapa1525
web-weaver1534
spinster1636
cob1657
weaver1825
araneidan1835
Meggie-lickie-spinnie1849
silk-spinner1868
orbitele1890
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. at Wyve Wyver, a spider, Aberd.
1882 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Wyvers'-wobs, cobwebs.
4. One of numerous Asiatic or African tropical birds of the family Ploceidae, so called from the elaborately interwoven nests that many of them build. Also more fully weaver-bird n. at Compounds 1b(b).
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > family Ploceidae > [noun] > subfamily Ploceinae (weaver)
finch1801
weaver-bird1826
weaver1828
fink1834
vink1834
weaver-finch1876
1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. I. 240 Ploceus Philippinus, Tem... Philippine Weaver... P. Abyssinicus... Abyssinian Weaver.
1844 Lady G. C. Fullerton Ellen Middleton (1854) II. xiv. 149 The weavers with their endless tails.
1894–5 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. III. 363 The red-billed black weaver (Textor niger) is found in the Transvaal.
1909 African Monthly VI. 270 A colony of Spotted-backed Weavers.
5. A water-beetle of the family Gyrinidae. = whirligig n. 4.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Adephaga (carnivorous beetles) > Hydradephaga (aquatic) > member of family Gyrinidae (whirligig)
whirligig1713
cramp-spider1721
whirlwig1816
weaver1864
mellow bug1894
gyrinid1925
1864 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang.
6. Basket-making. Any cane which is woven between the stakes of a basket.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from other vegetable fibres > [noun] > randed work or basketry > other parts
pair1897
weaver1897
rand1903
trac1924
slew1960
1897 A. Firth Cane Basket Work ii. 17 Weavers, the canes which are placed alternately behind and before the spokes.
1960 E. Legg Country Baskets 27 If you will just bear in mind the names of the parts—sticks or stakes, and weavers—..you will never forget the different grades required... The stakes must be stouter or stronger than the weavers.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
(a) † weaver-trindle n. Obsolete† weaver-craft n. Obsolete
weaver-body n.
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1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. xiii. 276 Ye are willing to be guided by the Glasgow weaver body's advice.
weaver-boy n.
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1817 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 32 98 The appellation of ‘Weaver Boys’ was..bestowed on the speakers at the numerous meeting, held at Manchester in November last.
weaver-girl n.
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1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. i. 14 The weaver-girls, in their flowers and ribbons.
weaver-leg n.
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1875 G. MacDonald Malcolm II. 44 He wad..rin as fest as his wee weyver (spider) legs cud wag.
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1483 Cath. Angl. 412/2 A Weffer tryndylle, jnsubulus.
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1515 in I. S. Leadam Select Cases Star Chamber (1911) II. 87 Robert Rossell being freman of the wever Crafte sworne saith [etc.].
(b)
weaver ant n. a tropical ant, esp. one of the genus Oecophylla, which builds nests of leaves fastened together by the silk of its own larvæ.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > ant > weaver ant
weaver ant1913
1913 Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1912 456 The highly interesting weaver ants..use their larvæ as weaver's shuttles.
1977 Sci. Amer. Dec. 146/1 Weaver ants are extremely abundant, aggressive and territorial.
b. Also in the names of certain birds.
(a)
weaver-bunting n.
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the world > animals > birds > unspecified and miscellaneous birds > [noun] > unspecified
tidifec1385
tymor?a1400
holste14..
popard1411
popera1450
wercocka1475
tytyferc1565
caladrie1567
butwin1570
brandlet1576
pecteale1579
stockard1579
tanterueale1579
pyralis1580
twite1582
gnat-snapper1598
herodian1609
grindle1610
skirwingle1610
spawe1610
tydie1612
fillady1620
wake1623
gnat-gnapper1627
blackbird1678
ricebird1704
long tongue1731
angle-taster1744
stearing1769
weaver-oriole1782
weaver-bunting1783
sedge-wren1802
satin grackle1822
Audubon1837
nankeen bird1837
fife-bird1854
jug1881
upholsterer1890
1783 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. 193 Weaver Bunting.
weaver-finch n.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > family Ploceidae > [noun] > subfamily Ploceinae (weaver)
finch1801
weaver-bird1826
weaver1828
fink1834
vink1834
weaver-finch1876
1876 A. R. Wallace Geogr. Distrib. Animals II. 286 The Ploceidæ, or Weaver-finches, are especially characteristic of the Ethiopian region.
weaver-oriole n.
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the world > animals > birds > unspecified and miscellaneous birds > [noun] > unspecified
tidifec1385
tymor?a1400
holste14..
popard1411
popera1450
wercocka1475
tytyferc1565
caladrie1567
butwin1570
brandlet1576
pecteale1579
stockard1579
tanterueale1579
pyralis1580
twite1582
gnat-snapper1598
herodian1609
grindle1610
skirwingle1610
spawe1610
tydie1612
fillady1620
wake1623
gnat-gnapper1627
blackbird1678
ricebird1704
long tongue1731
angle-taster1744
stearing1769
weaver-oriole1782
weaver-bunting1783
sedge-wren1802
satin grackle1822
Audubon1837
nankeen bird1837
fife-bird1854
jug1881
upholsterer1890
1782 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. ii. 435 Weever Oriole.
(b)
weaver-bird n. See sense 4.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > family Ploceidae > [noun] > subfamily Ploceinae (weaver)
finch1801
weaver-bird1826
weaver1828
fink1834
vink1834
weaver-finch1876
1826 J. F. Stephens Shaw's Gen. Zool. XIV. 34 Ploceus, Cuvier. Weaver-bird.
1879 J. Lubbock Sci. Lect. ii. 38 The pendulous nests of the weaver-bird are a protection from snakes and other enemies.
C2. Possessive combinations.
a. † weaver brush n. Obsolete† weaver hand-roll n. Obsolete† weaver-jack n. Obsolete† weaver-weight n. Obsolete
weaver's beam n.
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1539 Bible (Great) 1 Sam. xvii. 7 Ye shafte of his spere was like a weuers beame.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) v. i. 22 I feare not Goliah with a Weauers beame . View more context for this quotation
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1582 Rates Custome House (new ed.) sig. Avij Brusshes called weuers brusshes of heare the dosen ij.s. vj.d.
weaver-craft n.
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1462 in C. A. Markham Northampton Bor. Rec. (1898) I. 298 Euery persone that shall occupie and set vp the seide Weyverescrafte within the ffraunchese of this town.
weaver-glue n.
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1872 C. W. Heaton Exper. Chem. iii. 308 When cotton thread or cotton fabrics are bleached, it is merely in order to remove the oily, sweaty, and mealy substances (weaver's glue, &c.) which have become attached to them during spinning and weaving.
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1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xxi. 251/1 A weavers hand Roll.
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1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xxi. 251/1 A Weavers Jack.
weaver-loom n.
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1535 Bible (Coverdale) 1 Sam. xvii. 7 The shaft of his speare was like a weuers lome.
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1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas sig. H.iijv When weauers weight, is found in huswiues web.
weaver-winder n.
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1867 H. Latham Black & White 19 The trades taught are those of the..weaver, weaver's winder, carpenter, and blacksmith.
b. † weaver's beef of Colchester n. Obsolete a name given to sprats.† weaver's larum n. Obsolete an alarum made of a candle, a weight, and string.
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > fish > sprat
sprat1469
calken1674
weaver's beef of Colchestera1679
brisling1902
a1679 J. Ward Diary (1839) 112 Sprats are proverbially called Weaver's beef of Colchester.
1865 W. White Eastern Eng. I. 145 She had never heard sprats described as weaver's beef, as they are (or were) at Colchester.
weaver's bottom n.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders of joints > [noun] > bursitis > of hip
weaver's bottom1899
1899 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Weaver's bottom, term for chronic inflammation of the bursa over the ischial tuberosity from pressure.
weavers' cramp n. (see quot.).
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders affecting muscles > [noun] > spasm or cramp > type of spasm > occupational > specific
telegraphist's cramp1875
telegrapher's cramp1877
weavers' cramp1881
telegrapher's palsy1882
pianist's cramp1887
charley horse1888
piano-failure1897
watchmaker's cramp1899
1881 W. Rivington in Brain 4 257 The patient, who had been a weaver, suffered from what we may call ‘weavers' cramp’, by which is meant a condition analogous to ‘writers' cramp’.
weaver's knot n. a sheet-bend or single bend, used for joining threads in weaving.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > threads in process of weaving > [noun] > knot joining threads
weaver's knotc1555
c1555 Manifest Detection Diceplay sig. Biiiv To turne his pricke vpward, and cast a weauers knot on both his thumbs behind him.
1678 N. Wanley Wonders Little World i. x. §22. 16/1 With the flexure of her Tongue only she could readily tye that fast Knot, which we call the Weavers Knot.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > alarm clock
watchc1440
watch-clock1605
reveille-matin1610
alarm1614
alarm clock1662
larum clock1697
weaver's larum1745
expergefactor1823
watch-alarm1875
1745 Philos. Trans. 1744–5 (Royal Soc.) 43 555 This little Apparatus goes commonly by the Name of the Weaver's Larum, from its being chiefly or originally made use of by Persons employed in that Trade.
weaver's lights n. (see quot.: cf. weaver's windows n.).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > types of window > [noun] > large window
picture window1864
weaver's lights1866
weaver's windows1896
1866 Morning Star 14 Aug. 4/5 Broad windows extending the breadth of the house, and known as ‘weavers' lights’.
weaver's shuttle n. (a) the shuttle used by weavers: (b) a shell Radius (Ovulum) volva.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > loom > shuttle
shuttle1338
weaver's shuttle1538
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Radius,..a wayuers shyttell, wherwith he throweth the yern in to the webbe.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Job vii. 6 My dayes are swifter then a weauers shittle.
1815 S. Brookes Introd. Conchol. 157 Weaver's Shuttle, Bulla Volva.
weaver's windows n. (see quot.: cf. weaver's lights n.).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > types of window > [noun] > large window
picture window1864
weaver's lights1866
weaver's windows1896
1896 J. K. Snowden Web of Old Weaver xii. 152 The house had what we used to call weavers' windows—three or four narrow lights together.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
weavern.2
/ˈwiːvə/, U.S. /ˈwivər/ a. A horse that ‘weaves’ or rolls the neck and body from side to side.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [noun] > horse that moves from side to side
weaver?1847
?1847 T. Brown Man. Mod. Farriery 387 Animals of an impatient, irritable temper,..will sometimes keep moving their head, neck, and body to and fro, like the motion of a weaver's shuttle: these have been called weavers.
1863 E. C. Gaskell Sylvia's Lovers I. xi. 223 T' horse was a weaver if ever one was.
1880 W. Day Racehorse in Training i. 6 If a horse is a weaver put him into a box, for in it he is more contented and often forgets his tricks.
b. Boxing. A boxer who weaves from side to side as a tactical move. Cf. weave v.2 4.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > boxing > [noun] > boxer > using specific action
weaver1829
stopper1840
counterer1889
left jabber1905
southpaw1910
counterpuncher1932
1829 P. Egan Boxiana New Ser. II. 165 They again became weavers, till they measured their lengths upon the ground, Warren again undermost.
1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting xi. 54 ‘Bobbers and weavers’—chaps who come in bobbing low and weaving from side to side.
c. R.A.F. slang. A pilot (or aircraft) pursuing a devious course. Cf. weave v.2 1c.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > airman > [noun] > fighter pilot > pursuing weaving course
weaver1942
society > travel > air or space travel > people who fly in aircraft or spacecraft > [noun] > person in control of aircraft or spacecraft > person in control of aircraft > air force pilot > other military pilots
weaver1942
spotter pilot1944
1942 in A. S. Forbes & H. R. Allen Ten Fighter Boys 47 I called up the C.O. and said I would like to take up position as a ‘weaver’.
1956 J. E. Johnson Wing Leader iv. 53 Some of our squadrons provided two weavers in an attempt to guard themselves from the bounce. The weavers flew above the squadron and continually weaved and criss~crossed.
d. A driver of a motor vehicle who moves continuously from lane to lane, esp. in order to pass other vehicles. colloquial.
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society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > driver or operator of vehicle > [noun] > driver of motor vehicle > who cuts between other vehicles
cutter-in1928
weaver1960
1960 Amer. Speech 35 312 For a long time we have heard of the weaver, the driver who shifts from lane to lane in driving.
1973 Telegraph (Brisbane) 13 Sept. 30/1 Then we have the weaver, who careers from lane to lane, passing other cars right and left.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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