trap-door spider

American  

noun

1. any of several burrowing spiders, of the family Ctenizidae, that construct a tubular nest with a hinged lid.

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trap-door spider British  

noun

1. any of various spiders of the family Ctenizidae that construct a silk-lined hole in the ground closed by a hinged door of earth and silk

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Etymology

Origin of trap-door spider

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trap-door spider

The female burrows in the epidermis much as the female trap-door spider burrows in turf in order to make a nest in which to rear her young.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 3 "Apollodorus" to "Aral" by Various

Consider the ways and means of the ant-lion of the East, and the trap-door spider of the western desert regions.

From The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals A Book of Personal Observations by William Temple Hornaday

The same book tells why the trap-door spider usually builds on a slope.

From The Adventures of a Grain of Dust by Hallam Hawksworth

Many tell us that the tarantula has a lid on the top of his house, but this is incorrect, as that belongs to the trap-door spider.

From A Truthful Woman in Southern California by Kate Sanborn

It is called the trap-door spider, from the curious way in which it protects the entrance to its nest.

From Wild Nature Won By Kindness by Elizabeth Brightwen