The heaven was spangled with tremulous stars, and at the horizon the clouds hung down in gossamer folds---God's robe trailing in the sea! — Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836-1907).
According to legend, this delicate thread is the ravelling of the Virgin Mary's winding-sheet, which fell to earth on her ascension to heaven It is said to be God's seam, i e God's thread Philologically it is the Latin gossipin-us, cotton
It is seen in stubble fields and on furze or low bushes, and is formed by small spiders
A fine, filmy substance, like cobwebs, floating in the air, in calm, clear weather, especially in autumn