CLUE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Clue

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noun

Clue, Clew n.

A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself. "Untwisting his deceitful clew."

That which guides or directs one in anything of a doubtful or intricate nature; that which gives a hint in the solution of a mystery. "The clew, without which it was perilous to enter the vast and intricate maze of countinental politics, was in his hands."

(Naut.)

(a)

A lower corner of a square sail, or the after corner of a fore-and-aft sail.

(b)

A loop and thimbles at the corner of a sail.

(c)

A combination of lines or nettles by which a hammock is suspended.

Clew garnet (Naut.), one of the ropes by which the clews of the courses of square-rigged vessels are drawn up to the lower yards.

Clew line (Naut.), a rope by which a clew of one of the smaller square sails, as topsail, topgallant sail, or royal, is run up to its yard.

Clew-line block (Naut.), The block through which a clew line reeves.

Clue n. A ball of thread; a thread or other means of guidance. Same as Clew. "You have wound a goodly clue." "This clue once found unravels all the rest." "Serve as clues to guide us into further knowledge."

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Etymology of 'Clue'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Clue" Quotes from Famous Books

... quartz-crystals. In 1813 Seebeck discovered the polarization of light by tourmaline. That same year Brewster discovered those magnificent bands of colour that surround the axes of biaxal crystals. In 1814 Wollaston discovered the rings of Iceland spar. All these effects, which, without a theoretic clue, would leave the human mind in a jungle of phenomena without harmony or relation, were organically connected by the ...

— Six Lectures on Light - Delivered In The United States In 1872-1873 • John Tyndall

... Pavlicheff? And who may this son of Pavlicheff be?" asked General Epanchin with surprise; and looking curiously around him, he discovered that he alone had no clue to the mystery. Expectation and suspense were on every face, with the exception of that of the prince, who stood gravely wondering how an affair so entirely personal could have awakened such lively and widespread interest in so ...

— The Idiot • (AKA Feodor Dostoevsky) Fyodor Dostoyevsky

... naturally afforded Win a great deal of satisfaction and his interest and pleasure were shared by the others. To wait a whole month to solve the mystery of the Spanish chest when so distinct a clue appeared already in his hand, was a trial of patience. Naturally Colonel Lisle would not be likely to go ahead in the matter until Max returned to inspire action by his youthful enthusiasm, and it was only fair that Max should be in at the finish. Win wondered whether Connie ...

— The Spanish Chest • Edna A. Brown

... trip into Virginia," he replied. Then observing the anxious look which came to Helen's face, he continued, "We tried to persuade her not to go, but she said this might be a real clue and she could not be satisfied to remain home. Father would have insisted, for mother is really worn out, but she was so anxious to go that she and ...

— Hester's Counterpart - A Story of Boarding School Life • Jean K. Baird

... refer to anything which appears on the surface. Instead, it seeks to find the hidden and the unknown by following up one clue after another. When the astronomer, Leverrier, found that the planets Saturn and Uranus did not come to time, he asked himself how that could be. Meanwhile, the answer to any number of "hows" must have been previously ...

— Stories from Everybody's Magazine • 1910 issues of Everybody's Magazine

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