cob·web 
(kŏbwĕb′)
(kŏbwĕb′)n.
1.
a. A spiderweb, especially an old one that is covered in dust.
b. A single thread spun by a spider.
2. Something resembling a spiderweb in gauziness or flimsiness: "An extraordinary number of elegant ladies ... flowed in, heels clicking, diamonds flashing, adjusting tiny cobwebs of priceless lace on immaculate coiffures" (Jane Stevenson).
3. An intricate plot; a snare: caught in a cobweb of espionage and intrigue.
4. cobwebs Confusion; disorder: cobwebs on the brain.
tr.v. cob·webbed, cob·web·bing, cob·webs
To cover with or as if with cobwebs.
[Middle English coppeweb : coppe, spider (short for attercoppe, from Old English āttercoppe : ātor, poison + copp, head) + web, web; see WEB.]
cobweb′by adj.