silk gland

noun

: a gland that produces a viscid fluid which is extruded in filaments and hardens into silk on exposure to air: such as

a

: either of a pair of greatly enlarged and modified salivary glands of an insect larva that produce a compound filament from which a larval or pupal cover (such as a cocoon) is spun

b

: any of two or more abdominal glands of a spider that open through spinnerets and produce a filament used chiefly in the spinning of webs

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The versatile fiber is made from a mixture of complex proteins in the spider's silk gland and dispensed at quite a clip--an individual spider can produce up to 100 yards of silk a day--from its spinnerets. —Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010

Hayashi has collected spider silk glands of about 50 species, just a small dent in the more than 48,000 spider species known worldwide. —Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2019

Hayashi has collected spider silk glands of about 50 species, just a small dent in the more than 48,000 spider species known worldwide. —Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2019

Hayashi has collected spider silk glands of about 50 species, just a small dent in the more than 48,000 spider species known worldwide. —Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2019

Hayashi has collected spider silk glands of about 50 species, just a small dent in the more than 48,000 spider species known worldwide. —Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2019

Hayashi has collected spider silk glands of about 50 species, just a small dent in the more than 48,000 spider species known worldwide. —Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2019

Hayashi has collected spider silk glands of about 50 species, just a small dent in the more than 48,000 spider species known worldwide. —Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2019

Hayashi has collected spider silk glands of about 50 species, just a small dent in the more than 48,000 spider species known worldwide. —Washington Post, 19 Aug. 2019

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Word History

First Known Use

1870, in the meaning defined above