spider's web
2
1.0
- noun
- /ˈspaɪdərz wɛb/
:
telaraña
- George stabbed the broom into the corner of his ceiling, snagging a spider's web, which stretched out and then bounced back, leaving filaments on his bristles.
Examples
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Silko refers to storytelling as the weaving of a spider's web in which the structure gradually emerges as the web/story is spun.
Academic text (1997) -
Do you like my spider's web?
-
But once Ba put his fingers on that coat, he was like a small fly caught in a big spider's web.
Fiction book (1996) -
The walls were dirty, too, and strewn with spider's webs.
Fiction book (1993) -
Lace as delicate as a spider's web decorated the collar and sleeves.
Fiction book (1993) -
A tiny lake was a silver mirror, and bushes were covered and linked by innumerable bedewed spiders' webs.
Fiction book (2001) -
The gilded Capitol languishes in dust, and all the temples of Rome are covered with spiders' webs.
Academic text (2007) -
The artist created a delicate sculpture that resembled a spider's web, with intricate patterns woven from fine wire.
-
As the morning sun hit the dew-covered grass, the spider's web sparkled beautifully in the light.
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Walking through the forest, I noticed a shimmering spider's web stretched between two branches.
Synonyms
71
1.0
A thin, flat part joining other parts, for example a spider's net or skin between toes
15
1.4
A dusty net spiders make that hangs in old unused places
8
1.4
A fine silk net that a spider makes to catch insects
2
1.0
A net of thin sticky threads made by a spider to catch insects
1
8.8
Very thin spider threads that float in the air or on plants
A round spider net with straight lines from the center and rings of sticky thread
How Delicate
Surface Forms
Morphology
spider's + web
The meaning is directly and literally derived from the constituents: a web made by a spider (spider's + web). The possessive composition and identical constructions in many other languages make this immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the words.
Etymology
Spider's web comes from what a spider does: it spins a fine, sticky web to catch flies and other insects. So, anything that looks like that thin net, or a complex thing that 'traps' people, is called a spider's web today.