In web design, a cursor refers to the visual indicator, like an arrow or a hand, that shows the position of the mouse pointer and how users can interact with elements on a webpage. The cursor property in CSS is used to control the appearance of this pointer, providing feedback on actions like clicking, hovering over links, or selecting text. Developers use this property to change the default cursor to different styles, such as a "pointer" for links, a "text" I-beam for input fields, or a custom image.