clue

[kloo]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clue ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

anything that serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem, mystery, etc.

clew(defs 1–4, 6, 12).

verb (used with object), clued, clu·ing.

to direct or point out by a clue.

clew(def 7).

Verb Phrases

clue in,

to provide with useful or reliable information: Clue us in on how these forms are to be filled out.
to make familiar or aware: Has she been clued in about the rules of this office?

Origin of clue

variant spelling of clew

Synonyms for clue

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR clue ON THESAURUS.COM

1. sign, hint, trace, evidence, mark, key.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for clue

suggestion, trace, tip, solution, inkling, cue, indication, key, pointer, proof, tip-off, telltale, lead, track, mark, suspicion, intimation, print, sign, notion

Examples from the Web for clue

Contemporary Examples of clue

A cynic might say that the report is like the movie Clue, perfectly set up for a multiplicity of endings.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban
Jay Michaelson
December 20, 2014
The worship that holds you for a few hours a week becomes, then, the clue to that deep truth inside.
Joseph Campbell on the Roots of Halloween
Joseph Campbell
October 31, 2014
Martin was up on some of the more difficult passages, but managed to guess the wrong character from the clue of “Hodor!”
Amy Poehler and George R.R. Martin Play Game of ‘Game of Thrones’
Alex Chancey
October 29, 2014
But, honestly, no black person has any clue what white people eat.
‘Dear White People’ Is the Race Movie America Didn’t Know It Needed
Rawiya Kameir
October 17, 2014
Dusty books, smoking pipes, tarot cards, and a Ouija board fill the antique furniture positioning any object as a clue.
Escape the Room—New York's Hottest Game
Justin Jones
September 15, 2014

Historical Examples of clue

Here, perchance, may be found a clue in symbol to the family strife.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
His last letter gives no clue to the track he intended to pursue.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest
I think I have a clue by which his address may be ascertained.
Life in London
Edwin Hodder
Perhaps, in that characteristic might be found a clue to the chief fault in his nature.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Nobody ever got any clue to the reason, if there was one, for this predilection of hers.
Camps, Quarters and Casual Places
Archibald Forbes

British Dictionary definitions for clue

clue

noun

something that helps to solve a problem or unravel a mystery

not to have a clue

to be completely baffled
to be completely ignorant or incompetent

verb clues, cluing or clued

(tr; usually foll by in or up) to provide with helpful information

noun, verb

a variant spelling of clew

Word Origin for clue

C15: variant of clew

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for clue

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.

"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.