clue
/kluː/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.18 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A strand of yarn etc. as used to guide one through a labyrinth; something which points the way, a guide.
Archaic
noun
Information which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion.
noun
An object or a kind of indication which may be used as evidence.
noun
Insight or understanding ("to have a clue [about]" or "to have clue". See have a clue, clue stick)
noun
The text that indicates an answer in a crossword puzzle.
verb
To provide with a clue.
verb
Alternative form of clew.
Example Sentences
- "she had even had in the past a small smug conviction that in the domestic labyrinth she always kept the clue."
- "Give me a clue because the question is too vague."
- "Black tracks on the magneto, a hairline crack in the flywheel casing, pitted points or a spitless exhaust — all are clues to potential conkouts"
- "The detectives were looking for some clues at the scene of the crime."
- "I had little clue that I was being carefully monitored by the CCTV."
- "The crossword compiler wasn't sure how to clue the word "should"."
Etymology
Variant of clew (“a ball of thread or yarn”), from Middle English clew, clewe, clowe, clue, clwe, clyw, clywe, from Old English clēowen, clīewen, clīowen, clīwen, clȳwe, clȳwen (“ball, sphere; skein”), from Proto-West Germanic *kliuwīn (“ball, clump”), from Proto-Germanic *kliuwīną, *klewô (“bale, ball, clump, mass”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up, clump together; lump, swelling”). Sense evolution with reference to the one which the mythical Theseus used to guide him out of the Minotaur's labyrinth. More at clew. Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian khnaul (“ball of yarn”), Dutch kluwe, kluwen (“ball thread or yarn, clew”), German Knäuel (“ballyarn; tangle”), Norwegian Nynorsk kljå (“a loom weight”); also Sanskrit ग्लौ (glau, “the moon; camphor; the earth”).