Definition of net
1 a
: an open-meshed fabric twisted, knotted, or woven together at regular intervals
b
: something made of net: such as
(1)
: a device for catching fish, birds, or insects
(2)
: a fabric barricade (see 2barricade 1a) which divides a court in half (as in tennis or volleyball) and over which a ball or shuttlecock must be hit to be in play
(3)
: the fabric that encloses the sides and back of the goal (see goal 2a) in various games (such as soccer or hockey)
- shot the puck into the net
2
: an entrapping device or situation
- caught in the net of suspicious circumstances
- cannot escape the net of circumstances in which he is caught
- —W. P. Webb
3
: something resembling a net in reticulation (as of lines, fibers, or figures)
- the net of global communication
- … the systemic net of restrictions …
- —John Edgar Wideman
4 a
: a group of communications stations operating under unified control
- Army radio net
b
: network 4
