1.
2.
[syn: cobweb, gossamer]
3. a dense elaborate spider web that is more efficient than the orb web;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Spider web \Spi"der web"\, or Spider's web \Spi"der's web"\ .
(Zool.)
The silken web which is formed by most kinds of spiders,
particularly the web spun to entrap their prey; -- also
called cobweb. See Geometric spider, Triangle spider,
under Geometric, and Triangle.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Cobweb \Cob"web`\, n. [Cob a spider + web.]
1. The network spread by a spider to catch its prey.
[1913 Webster]
2. A snare of insidious meshes designed to catch the ignorant
and unwary.
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I can not but lament thy splendid wit
Entangled in the cobwebs of the schools. --Cowper.
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3. That which is thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and
worthless; rubbish.
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The dust and cobwebs of that uncivil age. --Sir P.
Sidney.
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4. (Zool.) The European spotted flycatcher.
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Cobweb lawn, a fine linen, mentioned in 1640 as being in
pieces of fifteen yards. --Beck. Draper's Dict.
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Such a proud piece of cobweb lawn. --Beau. & Fl.
Cobweb micrometer, a micrometer in which threads of cobweb
are substituted for wires.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
cobweb
n 1: a fabric so delicate and transparent as to resemble a web
of a spider
2: filaments from a web that was spun by a spider [syn:
cobweb, gossamer]
3: a dense elaborate spider web that is more efficient than the
orb web