clue
pronunciation
How to pronounce clue in British English:
UK [kluː]
How to pronounce clue in American English:
US [kluː]
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- Noun:
- a slight indication
- evidence that helps to solve a problem
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- Verb:
- roll into a ball
Word Origin
- clue
- clue: [15] Clue is a variant spelling of the now obsolete clew ‘ball of thread’, and its current application to ‘that which helps to solve a problem’, which originated in the early 17th century, is based on the notion of using (like Theseus in the Minotaur’s labyrinth) a ball of thread to show one the way out of an intricate maze one has entered. Clew itself goes back to Old English cliwan or cleowan, which may be related to claw.=> claw
- clue (n.)
- 1590s, spelling variant of clew "a ball of thread or yarn," in this sense with reference to the one Theseus used as a guide out of the Labyrinth. The purely figurative sense of "that which points the way" is from 1620s. As something which a bewildered person does not have, by 1948.
- clue (v.)
- "to inform someone of the important facts," usually with in, 1934, from clue (n.). Related: Clued; cluing. Earlier in now-obsolete sense of "follow or track by clues" (1660s). In nautical use, "to haul up (a sail) by means of the clue-lines," from clue (n.) in the "wound ball of yarn" sense.
Example
- 1. A big clue is your source of energy .
- 2. Why didn 't you give a clue or hint ?
- 3. The symptom nail biting was simply the clue to what lay beneath it .
- 4. Fund rebates are one clue .
- 5. The name of the package is a clue .