Forms: 1 áwebb, óweb, áb; 8–9 abb. [f. A- pref. 1 + WEB; cf. OE. awefan = OHG. arweban, mod. G. erweben to weave, f. a up + wefan to weave. (Ettmüller suggests for an-web, comparing mod. G. anweben to weave on or to.) Another OE. form was áwef, ówef whence WOOF.] The woof or weft in a web. Also attrib.
a. 1000. Ælfric, etc., in Wright’s Vocabularies, I. 282/1. Stamen wearp. Subtimen aweb. Ibid., 66/1. Subtegmen awebb. Ibid., 59/2. Trama vel subtemen oweb vel ab. Ibid., 40/1. Tramasericum seolcen ab … Linostema linen wearp, vel wyllen ab.
1757. Lisle, Husbandry, 500. What is on the back and ribs is somewhat finer, and makes, in druggets, the thread called abb.
1774. Act 14 Geo. III., c. xxv. Frauds are frequently committed by persons employed in the woollen manufactory … by the weavers withholding part of the woof or abb yarn delivered to them.
1835. Partington, Brit. Cycl., s.v. Abb, the yarn of a weaver’s warp, whence the wool of which it is made is termed abb-wool.
