'Trapdoor spider' definitions:
Definition of 'Trapdoor spider'
From: GCIDE
- Trapdoor \Trap"door`\, n.
- 1. (Arch.) A lifting or sliding door covering an opening in a roof or floor. [1913 Webster]
- 2. (Mining) A door in a level for regulating the ventilating current; -- called also weather door. --Raymond. [1913 Webster]
- Trapdoor spider (Zool.), any one of several species of large spiders which make a nest consisting of a vertical hole in the earth, lined with a hinged lid, like a trapdoor. Most of the species belong to the genus Cteniza, as the California species ({Cteniza Californica}). [1913 Webster]