A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.
A classic circular form spider's web
Clearly visible spider silk production
Spider web covered in hoar frost
Argiope sp. sitting on web decorations at the center of the web
Spider silk is a protein fibre or silk spun by spiders. Spiders use silk to make webs or other structures that function as adhesive traps to catch prey, to entangle and restrain prey before biting, to transmit tactile information, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring. They can use the silk to suspend themselves from height, to float through the air, or to glide away from predators. Most spiders vary the thickness and adhesiveness of their silk according to its use.
A female specimen of Argiope bruennichi wraps her prey in silk.
Indian Summer by Józef Chełmoński (1875, National Museum in Warsaw) depicts a peasant woman with a thread of gossamer in her hand.
An illustration of the differences between toughness, stiffness and strength