Cob"web` (?), n. [Cob a spider + web.]


The network spread by a spider to catch its prey.


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.


That which is thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; rubbish.

The dust and cobwebs of that uncivil age. Sir P. Sidney.

4. Zool.

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.


© Webster 1913.
