What is "spider web"

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 Geometric, and Triangle.

n. (alternative spelling of spiderweb English)

1. n. a web resembling the webs spun by spiders [syn: spider's web]

2. a web spun by spiders to trap insect prey [syn: spider's web]

A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word coppe, meaning "spider") is a device created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.

Spider webs have existed for at least 100 million years, as witnessed in a rare find of Early Cretaceous amber from Sussex, southern England. Insects can get trapped in spider webs, providing nutrition to the spider; however, not all spiders build webs to catch prey, and some do not build webs at all. "Spider web" is typically used to refer to a web that is apparently still in use (i.e. clean), whereas "cobweb" refers to abandoned (i.e. dusty) webs. However, "cobweb" is used to describe the tangled three-dimensional web of some spiders of the theridiidae family. While this large family is also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders, they actually have a huge range of web architectures.

Spider Web(s) or Spider's Web may refer to:

• Spider web, a silken web built by a spider
• Spider's Web (play), a 1954 play by Agatha Christie
  • Spider's Web (novel), a 2000 novelisation of the Agatha Christie play, by Charles Osborne
• The Spider's Web, a 1938 film directed by James W. Horne and Ray Taylor
• Spiderweb, a 1976 short film starring Nigel Hawthorne
• Spider's Web (film) a 1989 West German film directed by Bernhard Wicki
• Spider's Web, a 2002 film starring and produced by Kari Wuhrer
• Spider Web (Tatiana album), and its title song by Tatiana
• "Spiderwebs", a 1995 song by No Doubt
• "Spider's Web", a 2006 song by Katie Melua
• Spiderweb Software, an independent video game developer