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 largest whale may have less intelligence and constructive reasoning than a trap-door spider, a bee or an ant.

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

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 Sanborn, Kate

As one object lesson from the insect world, I will flash upon the screen, for a moment only, the trap-door spider.

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

He even walked out on the desert a little way that afternoon, with Buddy clinging to his hand to pilot him to the wonderful nest of a trap-door spider.

From Travelers Five Along Life's Highway by Johnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows)

It is radically unlike any soil on the Atlantic coast—the soil for cañons and the rectangular watercourses, and for the trap-door spider.

From Under the Maples by Burroughs, John