wolf spider

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various spiders of the family Lycosidae that stalk prey on the ground and do not spin webs, especially a common small species (Lycosa tarentula) of southern Europe found on beaches and in woods.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Any spider of the family Lycosidæ, the species of which do not lie in wait, but prowl about after their prey and spring upon it; a tarantula. See Lycosidæ, and cuts under tarantula, 1.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any of several spiders, of the family Lycosidae, that are known for stalking their prey on the ground and not building webs.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) any one of numerous species of running ground spiders belonging to the genus Lycosa, or family Lycosidæ. These spiders run about rapidly in search of their prey. Most of them are plain brown or blackish in color. See Illust. in App.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. ground spider that hunts its prey instead of using a web