net

a hairnet; a mosquito net; a tennis net

Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

A device made from such mesh, used for catching fish, butterflies, etc.

The nets have to be checked to make sure that they are not tangled up and therefore useless, and the carcasses of the dead sharks are removed.

1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 190:

A device made from such mesh, generally used for trapping something.

Petri net

Anything that has the appearance of such a device.

A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs xxix:5:

caught in the prosecuting attorney's net

(geometry) Any set of polygons joined edge to edge that, when folded along the edges between adjoining polygons so that the outer edges touch, form a given polyhedron.

A system that interconnects a number of users, locations etc. allowing transport or communication between them.

(electronics) A conductor that interconnects two or more component terminals.

Wigan had N'Zogbia sent off late on but Squillaci headed into his own net to give the home side a deserved point.

2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:

The striker headed the ball into the net to make it 1-0.

(sports) A framework backed by a mesh, serving as the goal in hockey, soccer, lacrosse, etc.

(sports, tennis) A mesh stretched to divide the court in tennis, badminton, volleyball, etc.

(tennis, by extension) The area of the court close to the net (mesh stretched to divide the court).

reticulation

anything that has the appearance of a net

ohwoo

device for catching fish, butterflies etc.

мре́жа

sports: mesh stretched to divide the court

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *neHd-der.
Proto-Germanic *natją
Proto-West Germanic *nati
Old English nett
Middle English net
English net
From Middle English net, from Old English net, nett, from Proto-West Germanic *nati, from Proto-Germanic *natją, from Proto-Indo-European *ned- (“to turn, twist, knot”).
Cognate with West Frisian net, Low German Nett, Dutch net, German Netz, Danish net, Swedish nät.


net

(transitive) To catch by means of a net.

And now I am here, netted and in the toils.

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

(transitive, figuratively) To catch in a trap, or by stratagem.

to net a tree

Old Yew, which graspest at the stones
That name the under-lying dead,
Thy fibres net the dreamless head,
Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto II:

Evans netted the winner in the 80th minute.

Romeu then scored a penalty, Torres netted a header and Moses added the sixth from substitute Oscar's cross.

Azarenka whipped a sensational forehand around the net post to break for 2-0 in the second set, followed it up with a love hold and moved to 5-1 when Paszek netted a forehand.

2011 June 28, David Ornstein, “Wimbledon 2011: Victoria Azarenka beats Tamira Paszek in quarters”, in BBC Sport:

I was shown into a pretty but rather close drawing-room, and there sat Agnes, netting a purse.

1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

en-verb

net (third-person singular simple present nets, present participle netting, simple past and past participle netted)

nets (present singular third-person)
netting (participle present)
netted (participle past)
netted (past)


net

Her brest all naked, as net iuory, / Without adorne of gold or siluer bright […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(obsolete) Good, desirable; clean, decent, clear.

net wine

Free from extraneous substances; pure; unadulterated; neat.

net profit; net weight

net result; net conclusion

From Middle English net, nette, from Old French net, from Latin nitidus. Doublet of neat and nitid.


net

You'll have $5000 net.


net

The amount remaining after expenses are deducted; profit.

нето

The amount remaining after expenses are deducted, profit


net

The company nets $30 on every sale.

The scam netted the criminals $30,000.

Every party is netting their position with a counter-party.


net

Net (device)
The English Dialect Dictionary

Borrowed from Middle French nettoyer (“to cleanse”).