cobweb
A spiderweb, especially a large one, an old abandoned one covered with debris and dust…A spiderweb, especially a large one, an old abandoned one covered with debris and dust or an asymmetrical one woven with an irregular pattern of threads.
» The windows were covered with cobwebs.
Die Fenster waren mit Spinnweben verhangen.
Окна покрывала паутина.
Окна были покрыты паутиной.
Meaning
7 sensesA spiderweb, especially a large one, an old abandoned one covered with debris and dust or an asymmetrical one woven with an irregular pattern of threads.
A spiderweb, especially a large one, an old abandoned one covered with debris and dust or an asymmetrical one woven with an irregular pattern of threads.
One of a spiderweb's filaments; gossamer; anything flimsy and gauzy, intricately interconnected or otherwise like a cobweb.
cobweb model, cobweb theory
(figuratively)An intricate plot to catch the unwary; something entangling or confusing.
I was confused by the cobwebs of contract law.
(figuratively)Something thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; valueless remainder.
blow the cobwebs away
(informal, usually plural)Fuzzy inexact memories; confusion.
Fuzzy inexact memories; confusion.
(Internet, figuratively, informal, usually plural, rare)A web page that either has not been updated for a long time, or one that is rarely visited.
The European spotted flycatcher, Muscicapa striata.
- a dense elaborate spider web that is more efficient than the orb web
- filaments from a web that was spun by a spider
- a fabric so delicate and transparent as to resemble a web of a spider
Examples
14 sentencesThe windows were covered with cobwebs.
ruОкна покрывала паутина.
deDie Fenster waren mit Spinnweben verhangen.
Shadows hung to the walls like cobwebs.
ruТени липли к стенам, словно паутины.
The cobwebs glitter in the silver dew.
deDer silberne Tau glänzt auf den Spinnennetzen.
There is a big cobweb in the corner.
ruВ углу огромная паутина.
The cobwebs are glistening in the silver dew.
deDer silberne Tau glänzt auf den Spinnennetzen.
Origin
From Middle English copweb, coppeweb, coppewebbe, from Old English ātorcoppe (“spider”) +From Middle English copweb, coppeweb, coppewebbe, from Old English ātorcoppe (“spider”) + Old English webb. Compare Middle Dutch kopwebbe, German Low German Kobbenwebbe (Westphalian). By surface analysis, cob (“spider”, obsolete) + web.
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Forms
plural: cobwebsSynonyms
5 synonyms- filaments from a web that was spun by a spider:gossamer