Function: noun
Date: 1870
: a gland that produces a viscid fluid which is extruded in filaments and hardens into silk on exposure to air: 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 (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