What's the difference between cobwebs and spiderwebs?

Question

What's the difference between cobwebs and spiderwebs?

Answer 1

Cob is an old word which means spider.

Answer 2

A cobweb is an old spiderweb that has collected dust.

Answer 3

Nothing - cobwebs are the leftovers of spiderwebs

Answer 4

Cobwebs can consist of but may not be spiderwebs. They are usually dust and dirt particles that gather on walls and in rafters, or wherever they can.

Spiderwebs are webs that have Spiders have spun and have spiders living in them. They are used to catch food and so on and so forth.

Old spiderwebs do end up being cobwebs though so they are closly related.

Answer 5

They are actually synonyms. But in modern usage "cobweb" has come to mean an old spiderweb that just catches dust, while a spider web refers to an active web which the spider maintains (cleaning repairing etc.).

Answer 6

I wasn't aware there was one