Cobweb

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The network spread by a spider to catch its prey.

2. 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.

3. That which is thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; rubbish. The dust and cobwebs of that uncivil age. Sir P. Sidney.

4. 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.