The story
So called because it can be represented in a diagram as curves overlaid on a spiral, resembling a spider's web.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
cobweb model
Today it means: An economic model that ascribes the periodic price fluctuations in certain types of market to cyclical supply and demand where the amount produced must be chosen before prices are observed, and producers' expectations about prices are assumed to be based on observations of previous prices. Full definition →