What does "cobweb" mean?
Cobweb: A snare of insidious meshes designed to catch the ignorant and unwary. I can not but lament thy splendid wit Entangled in the cobwebs of the schools. Cowper.
Additional senses
- 2.That which is thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; rubbish. The dust and cobwebs of that uncivil age. Sir P. Sidney.
- 3.(Zoöl.) The European spotted flycatcher. Cobweb lawn, a fine linen, mentioned in 1640 as being in pieces of fifteen yards. Beck. Draper's Dict. Such a proud piece of cobweb lawn. Beau. & Fl. Cobweb micrometer, a micrometer in which threads of cobwed are substituted for wires.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00