cobweb

UK: /ˈkɒbwɛb/ US: /ˈkɑbˌwɛb/ ,(kob′web′)

Inflections of 'cobweb' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

cobwebs

v 3rd person singular

cobwebbing

v pres p

cobwebbed

v past

cobwebbed

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

cob•web /ˈkɑbˌwɛb/   n. [countable]

1. Invertebrates a web of threads produced by a spider:
   brushing the cobwebs off his arm.
2. cobwebs, [plural] confusion or indistinctness:
   clearing the cobwebs out of one's brain.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cob•web  (kob′web′), n., v., -webbed, -web•bing. 
n. 

1. Invertebrates a web spun by a spider to entrap its prey.
2. a single thread spun by a spider.
3. something resembling a cobweb;
   anything finespun, flimsy, or insubstantial.
4. a network of plot or intrigue;
   an insidious snare.
5. cobwebs, confusion, indistinctness, or lack of order:
   I'm so tired my head is full of cobwebs.

v.t. 

6. to cover with or as with cobwebs:
   Spiders cobwebbed the cellar.
7. to confuse or muddle:
   Drunkenness cobwebbed his mind.

• 1275–1325; Middle English coppeweb, derivative of Old English -coppe spider (in ātorcoppe poison spider); cognate with Middle Dutch koppe; see web

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

cobweb / ˈkɒbˌwɛb/ noun

1. a web spun by certain spiders, esp those of the family Theridiidae, often found in the corners of disused rooms
2. a single thread of such a web
3. something like a cobweb, as in its flimsiness or ability to trap

Etymology: 14th Century cob, from coppe, from Old English (ātor)coppe spider; related to Middle Dutch koppe spider, Swedish (dialect) etterkoppa

ˈcobˌwebbed adjective

ˈcobˌwebby adjective