cobweb

cobweb
\ \ [14] A cobweb was originally literally a web woven by a cop, a Middle English word for ‘spider’. It was short for attercopspider’, a compound of Old English origin which had largely died out by the 17th century. This seems to have meant literally ‘poison head’, from Old English ātōrpoison’ and coppehead, top’ (a possible relative of English cob). It was revived by J R R Tolkien in The Hobbit 1937.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Cobweb — or cobwebs may refer to: Contents 1 Animals 2 Plants 3 Entertainment …   Wikipedia

  • 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. [1913 Webster] I can not but lament thy splendid wit Entangled in the …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cobweb — early 14c., coppewebbe; the first element is O.E. coppe, in atorcoppe spider, lit. poison head (see ATTERCOP (Cf. attercop)). Spelling with b is from 16c., perhaps from COB (Cf. cob). Cob as a stand alone for a spider was an old word nearly dead… …   Etymology dictionary

  • cobweb — [n] entanglement; filament fiber, gossamer, labyrinth, mesh, net, network, snare, tissue, toil, web, webbing; concepts 517,674 …   New thesaurus

  • cobweb — ► NOUN ▪ a spider s web, especially an old or dusty one. DERIVATIVES cobwebbed adjective cobwebby adjective. ORIGIN originally coppeweb: from obsolete coppe «spider», from Old English …   English terms dictionary

  • cobweb — [käb′web΄] n. [ME copweb < coppe, spider (< OE coppe, in atorcoppe < ator, poison + coppe, spider; prob. akin to cop, COP1) + WEB] 1. a web spun by a spider, esp. one spun indoors that has gathered dust 2. a single thread of such a web 3 …   English World dictionary

  • Cobweb — Das Spinnwebtheorem Das Spinnwebtheorem (eigentlich Spinnenwebe Theorem, engl.: cobweb theorem) stellt einen Erklärungsansatz für den um den Gleichgewichtspreis oszillierenden Marktpreis auf den Gütermärkten dar. Der Marktpreis oszilliert hierbei …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • cobweb — n. spider s network to spin a cobweb (spiders spin cobwebs) * * * [ kɒbweb] [ spider s network ] to spin a cobweb (spiders spin cobwebs) …   Combinatory dictionary

  • cobweb — UK [ˈkɒbˌweb] / US [ˈkɑbˌweb] noun [countable] Word forms cobweb : singular cobweb plural cobwebs a net that a spider makes out of thin sticky strings • blow/clear away the cobwebs to make you feel more lively and think more clearly I went for a… …   English dictionary

  • cobweb — Spider web Spi der web , or Spider s web Spi der s web . (Zo[ o]l.) 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cobweb — noun Etymology: Middle English coppeweb, from coppe spider (from Old English ātorcoppe) + web; akin to Middle Dutch coppe spider Date: 14th century 1. a. the network spread by a spider ; spiderweb b. tangles of the silk …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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