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in a level for regulating the ventilating current; -- called also weather door. Raymond. Trapdoor spider (Zoöl.), 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 C…

not spin webs, but usually construct tubes in the earth, which are often furnished with a trapdoor. The South American bird spider (Mygale avicularia), and the crab spider, or matoutou (M. cancerides) are among the largest species. Some of the species are erroneously called tarantulas, as the Texas tarantula (M. Hentzi…

s which have four lungs, or pulmonary sacs. It includes the bird spiders (Mygale) and the trapdoor spiders. See Mygale.

A kind of movable stepladder. Knight. Trap stairs, a staircase leading to a trapdoor. -- Trap tree (Bot.) the jack; -- so called because it furnishes a kind of birdlime. See 1st Jack.

A boy who opens and shuts a trapdoor in a gallery or level. Raymond.

A small portion of certain anthers, which opens like a trapdoor to allow the pollen to escape, as in the barberry.

ks from injury by the weather when stowed in the nettings. -- Weather door. (Mining) See Trapdoor, 2. -- Weather gall. Same as Water gall, 2. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. -- Weather house, a mechanical contrivance in the form of a house, which indicates changes in atmospheric conditions by the appearance or retirement of…