webbing
Americannoun
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a strong, woven material of hemp, cotton, or jute, in bands of various widths, used for belts, carrying straps, harness, etc.
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such woven bands nailed on furniture under springs or upholstery, for support.
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something resembling this, as the leather thongs or piece connecting the sections for the thumb and forefinger in a baseball glove or mitt.
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any material or part formed from interlaced threads, thongs, branches, etc., or having a latticelike appearance, as the face of a tennis racket.
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Chiefly Eastern New England Older Use. webbings, the reins or lines for controlling a horse or team of horses.
noun
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a strong fabric of hemp, cotton, jute, etc, woven in strips and used under springs in upholstery or for straps, etc
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the skin that unites the digits of a webbed foot
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anything that forms a web
Etymology
Origin of webbing
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at web, -ing 1
Explanation
Webbing can refer to the stretchy skin between a frog's fingers that helps it glide through water, or the tough fabric in your backpack straps that keeps everything secure. In nature, webbing is the thin, elastic skin between the toes of animals like ducks and frogs, giving them the ability to swim like pros. When it comes to man-made materials, webbing is a strong, woven material used by humans in everything from seatbelts to camping gear. This man-made webbing provides the strength and flexibility needed to keep things safely in place, just like nature's version does for swimming animals.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Webbing between the fingers would be overboard, but there should be no rush to regulate receivers’ mitts.
From Washington Times • Aug. 31, 2015
Obama told workers after touring the American Cord & Webbing plant in Woonsocket, outside Providence.
From Reuters • Oct. 26, 2010
Obama told workers after touring the American Cord & Webbing plant in Woonsocket.
From Reuters • Oct. 25, 2010
Webbing launches out of his fingertips and weaves toward us like coils.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Webbing between fingers one and two is basal in all species.
From A Synopsis of Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Osteocephalus by Duellman, William E.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
