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De - Pt| English Dictionary: clue | by the DICT Development Group |
| 3 results for clue | |
| From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
| From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
|
Clue \Clue\ (kl[umac]), n. [See {Clew}, n.] A ball of thread; a thread or other means of guidance. Same as {Clew}. You have wound a goodly clue. --Shak. This clue once found unravels all the rest. --Pope. Serve as clues to guide us into further knowledge. --Locke. | |
| From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
|
Clew \Clew\, Clue \Clue\, n. [OE. clewe, clowe, clue, AS. cleowen, cliwen, clywe ball of thread; akin to D. kluwen, OHG. chliwa, chliuwa, G. dim. kleuel, kn[84]uel, and perch. to L. gluma hull, husk, Skr. glaus sort of ball or tumor. Perch. akin to E. claw. [fb]26. Cf. {Knawel}.] 1. A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself. Untwisting his deceitful clew. --Spenser. 2. 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. --Macaulay. 3. (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. See Illust. of {Block}. | |
