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 May 23, Walt Kelly, Pogo, comic strip, →ISBN, page 43:
      [Moth about the Dog:] Bein' a bug is all a matter of legs [...] Four more an' he [could have] made spidership.
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