"cobweb" meaning in All languages combined

See cobweb on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈkɒbwɛb/ Audio: en-us-cobweb.ogg [US] Forms: cobwebs [plural]
Etymology: From Middle English copweb, coppeweb, equivalent to cop (“spider”, obsolete) + web. Compare Middle Dutch kopwebbe, German Low German Kobbenwebbe (Westphalian). Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|copweb}} Middle English copweb, {{m|enm|coppeweb}} coppeweb, {{compound|en|cop|web|pos1=obsolete|t1=spider}} cop (“spider”, obsolete) + web, {{cog|dum|kopwebbe}} Middle Dutch kopwebbe, {{cog|nds-de|Kobbenwebbe}} German Low German Kobbenwebbe, {{i|Westphalian}} (Westphalian) Head templates: {{en-noun}} cobweb (plural cobwebs)
  1. A spiderweb, or the remains of one, especially an asymmetrical one that is woven with an irregular pattern of threads.
    Sense id: en-cobweb-en-noun-x6fiPAge
  2. One of its filaments; gossamer.
    Sense id: en-cobweb-en-noun-stHf9Lra
  3. (figurative) Something thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; valueless remainder. Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-cobweb-en-noun-X4FOQHEq
  4. An intricate plot to catch the unwary.
    Sense id: en-cobweb-en-noun-Q0edfC9t
  5. (Internet slang, rare) A web page that either has not been updated for a long time, or that is rarely visited. Tags: Internet, rare
    Sense id: en-cobweb-en-noun-jf3Iaq3q
  6. The European spotted flycatcher, Muscicapa striata. Categories (lifeform): Muscicapids
    Sense id: en-cobweb-en-noun-p8mg6DFK Disambiguation of Muscicapids: 3 12 7 2 11 52 13 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 1 14 8 1 16 41 19 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 2 8 5 1 13 58 13
  7. (informal, usually in the plural) fuzzy inexact memories. Tags: informal, plural-normally
    Sense id: en-cobweb-en-noun-stabYNPe
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: copweb [obsolete] Hypernyms: web Derived forms: cobwebbed, cobwebbery, cobweb brush, cobwebby, cobweb model, cobweb site, cobweb spider, cobweb theory, dwarf cobweb weaver spider

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for cobweb meaning in All languages combined (6.2kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "cobwebbed"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "cobwebbery"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "cobweb brush"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "cobwebby"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "cobweb model"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "cobweb site"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "cobweb spider"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "cobweb theory"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "dwarf cobweb weaver spider"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "copweb"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English copweb",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "coppeweb"
      },
      "expansion": "coppeweb",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cop",
        "3": "web",
        "pos1": "obsolete",
        "t1": "spider"
      },
      "expansion": "cop (“spider”, obsolete) + web",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dum",
        "2": "kopwebbe"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch kopwebbe",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nds-de",
        "2": "Kobbenwebbe"
      },
      "expansion": "German Low German Kobbenwebbe",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Westphalian"
      },
      "expansion": "(Westphalian)",
      "name": "i"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English copweb, coppeweb, equivalent to cop (“spider”, obsolete) + web. Compare Middle Dutch kopwebbe, German Low German Kobbenwebbe (Westphalian).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cobwebs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "cobweb (plural cobwebs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "word": "web"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "cob‧web"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1865, Henry David Thoreau, chapter X, in Cape Cod, Provincetown, page 200",
          "text": "[…] there was stretched across his gateway a circular cobweb of the largest kind and quite entire. This looked so ominous that I actually turned aside and went in the back way.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 286",
          "text": "A cobweb, night-spun, hung in an insidious circle from branch to branch, facing her. Early as it was, its first victim struggled in its gummy meshes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A spiderweb, or the remains of one, especially an asymmetrical one that is woven with an irregular pattern of threads."
      ],
      "id": "en-cobweb-en-noun-x6fiPAge",
      "links": [
        [
          "spiderweb",
          "spiderweb"
        ],
        [
          "remain",
          "remain"
        ],
        [
          "asymmetrical",
          "asymmetrical"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "One of its filaments; gossamer."
      ],
      "id": "en-cobweb-en-noun-stHf9Lra",
      "links": [
        [
          "filament",
          "filament"
        ],
        [
          "gossamer",
          "gossamer"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2018 February 10, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 0 Arsenal”, in BBC",
          "text": "Once the cobwebs of a lack-lustre first half were blown away, Spurs were irresistible and Arsenal were simply unable to cope with the power of Mousa Dembele in midfield and the creation and running of Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli - combined with the inevitable goalscoring prowess of Kane.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; valueless remainder."
      ],
      "id": "en-cobweb-en-noun-X4FOQHEq",
      "links": [
        [
          "unsubstantial",
          "unsubstantial"
        ],
        [
          "valueless",
          "valueless"
        ],
        [
          "remainder",
          "remainder"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Something thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; valueless remainder."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "An intricate plot to catch the unwary."
      ],
      "id": "en-cobweb-en-noun-Q0edfC9t",
      "links": [
        [
          "intricate",
          "intricate"
        ],
        [
          "plot",
          "plot"
        ],
        [
          "catch",
          "catch"
        ],
        [
          "unwary",
          "unwary"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "A web page that either has not been updated for a long time, or that is rarely visited."
      ],
      "id": "en-cobweb-en-noun-jf3Iaq3q",
      "links": [
        [
          "Internet",
          "Internet"
        ],
        [
          "slang",
          "slang"
        ],
        [
          "web page",
          "web page"
        ],
        [
          "update",
          "update"
        ],
        [
          "visit",
          "visit"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Internet slang, rare) A web page that either has not been updated for a long time, or that is rarely visited."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet",
        "rare"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "1 14 8 1 16 41 19",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 8 5 1 13 58 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 12 7 2 11 52 13",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Muscicapids",
          "orig": "en:Muscicapids",
          "parents": [
            "Perching birds",
            "Birds",
            "Vertebrates",
            "Chordates",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The European spotted flycatcher, Muscicapa striata."
      ],
      "id": "en-cobweb-en-noun-p8mg6DFK",
      "links": [
        [
          "European spotted flycatcher",
          "European spotted flycatcher"
        ],
        [
          "Muscicapa striata",
          "Muscicapa striata#Translingual"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, Burlan Eugene Ellison, The Ebony Coffin: A Jim Kirkwood Novel, page 98",
          "text": "I washed my face, trying to get the cobwebs of hard sex and an alcohol-induced sleep out of my head",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Stanley M. Bierman, Napoleon's Penis: Plus Other Engaging and Outrageous Tales, page 16",
          "text": "Veyz mir, meaning something like “Oh . . . my!,” was a Yiddish expression that I had not employed for a long, long time. Yet in the cobwebs of my memory, that expression was still lurking inside. How interesting!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "fuzzy inexact memories."
      ],
      "id": "en-cobweb-en-noun-stabYNPe",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, usually in the plural) fuzzy inexact memories."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "plural-normally"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkɒbwɛb/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-cobweb.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4d/En-us-cobweb.ogg/En-us-cobweb.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/En-us-cobweb.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "word": "copweb"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "cobweb"
  ],
  "word": "cobweb"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "en:Muscicapids"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "cobwebbed"
    },
    {
      "word": "cobwebbery"
    },
    {
      "word": "cobweb brush"
    },
    {
      "word": "cobwebby"
    },
    {
      "word": "cobweb model"
    },
    {
      "word": "cobweb site"
    },
    {
      "word": "cobweb spider"
    },
    {
      "word": "cobweb theory"
    },
    {
      "word": "dwarf cobweb weaver spider"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "copweb"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English copweb",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "coppeweb"
      },
      "expansion": "coppeweb",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "cop",
        "3": "web",
        "pos1": "obsolete",
        "t1": "spider"
      },
      "expansion": "cop (“spider”, obsolete) + web",
      "name": "compound"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dum",
        "2": "kopwebbe"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Dutch kopwebbe",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nds-de",
        "2": "Kobbenwebbe"
      },
      "expansion": "German Low German Kobbenwebbe",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Westphalian"
      },
      "expansion": "(Westphalian)",
      "name": "i"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English copweb, coppeweb, equivalent to cop (“spider”, obsolete) + web. Compare Middle Dutch kopwebbe, German Low German Kobbenwebbe (Westphalian).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cobwebs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "cobweb (plural cobwebs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "word": "web"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "cob‧web"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1865, Henry David Thoreau, chapter X, in Cape Cod, Provincetown, page 200",
          "text": "[…] there was stretched across his gateway a circular cobweb of the largest kind and quite entire. This looked so ominous that I actually turned aside and went in the back way.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 286",
          "text": "A cobweb, night-spun, hung in an insidious circle from branch to branch, facing her. Early as it was, its first victim struggled in its gummy meshes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A spiderweb, or the remains of one, especially an asymmetrical one that is woven with an irregular pattern of threads."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "spiderweb",
          "spiderweb"
        ],
        [
          "remain",
          "remain"
        ],
        [
          "asymmetrical",
          "asymmetrical"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "One of its filaments; gossamer."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "filament",
          "filament"
        ],
        [
          "gossamer",
          "gossamer"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2018 February 10, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 0 Arsenal”, in BBC",
          "text": "Once the cobwebs of a lack-lustre first half were blown away, Spurs were irresistible and Arsenal were simply unable to cope with the power of Mousa Dembele in midfield and the creation and running of Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli - combined with the inevitable goalscoring prowess of Kane.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; valueless remainder."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "unsubstantial",
          "unsubstantial"
        ],
        [
          "valueless",
          "valueless"
        ],
        [
          "remainder",
          "remainder"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Something thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; valueless remainder."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "An intricate plot to catch the unwary."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "intricate",
          "intricate"
        ],
        [
          "plot",
          "plot"
        ],
        [
          "catch",
          "catch"
        ],
        [
          "unwary",
          "unwary"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English internet slang",
        "English terms with rare senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A web page that either has not been updated for a long time, or that is rarely visited."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Internet",
          "Internet"
        ],
        [
          "slang",
          "slang"
        ],
        [
          "web page",
          "web page"
        ],
        [
          "update",
          "update"
        ],
        [
          "visit",
          "visit"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Internet slang, rare) A web page that either has not been updated for a long time, or that is rarely visited."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet",
        "rare"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The European spotted flycatcher, Muscicapa striata."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "European spotted flycatcher",
          "European spotted flycatcher"
        ],
        [
          "Muscicapa striata",
          "Muscicapa striata#Translingual"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, Burlan Eugene Ellison, The Ebony Coffin: A Jim Kirkwood Novel, page 98",
          "text": "I washed my face, trying to get the cobwebs of hard sex and an alcohol-induced sleep out of my head",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Stanley M. Bierman, Napoleon's Penis: Plus Other Engaging and Outrageous Tales, page 16",
          "text": "Veyz mir, meaning something like “Oh . . . my!,” was a Yiddish expression that I had not employed for a long, long time. Yet in the cobwebs of my memory, that expression was still lurking inside. How interesting!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "fuzzy inexact memories."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, usually in the plural) fuzzy inexact memories."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "plural-normally"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkɒbwɛb/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-cobweb.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4d/En-us-cobweb.ogg/En-us-cobweb.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/En-us-cobweb.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "word": "copweb"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "cobweb"
  ],
  "word": "cobweb"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.