cobweb

noun

Etymology: From Middle English copweb, coppeweb. Compare Middle Dutch kopwebbe, German Low German Kobbenwebbe (Westphalian). By surface analysis, cob (“spider”, obsolete) + web.

1. A spiderweb, or the remains of one, especially an asymmetrical one that is woven with an irregular pattern of threads.

   “[…] 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.”

   “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.”

2. One of its filaments; gossamer.
3. Something thin and unsubstantial, or flimsy and worthless; valueless remainder.

   “blow the cobwebs away”

   “The dust and cobwebs of that uncivil age.”

4. An intricate plot to catch the unwary.

   “Entangled in the cobwebs of the schools.”

5. A web page that either has not been updated for a long time, or that is rarely visited.
6. The European spotted flycatcher, Muscicapa striata.
7. fuzzy inexact memories.

   “I washed my face, trying to get the cobwebs of hard sex and an alcohol-induced sleep out of my head”

   “"Hey," she said. "You know what? After you call the hospital, why don't you go for a run? It'll help clear out the cobwebs, get rid of some of that tension. Then go back, take a nice hot shower, and―" "There's no shower here. Remember?" "Oh, right. A nice hot bath, then. Even better. And eat breakfast, Caelum. You need to remember to eat."”