Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for clue on Thesaurus.com anything that serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem, mystery, etc. clew(defs 1–4, 6, 12) .Show More
verb (used with object), clued, clu·ing. to direct or point out by a clue. clew(def 7) .Show More
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? Show More
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
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.
The worship that holds you for a few hours a week becomes, then, the clue to that deep truth inside.
Martin was up on some of the more difficult passages, but managed to guess the wrong character from the clue of “Hodor!”
But, honestly, no black person has any clue what white people eat.
Dusty books, smoking pipes, tarot cards, and a Ouija board fill the antique furniture positioning any object as a clue .
Historical Examples of clue Here, perchance, may be found a clue in symbol to the family strife.
His last letter gives no clue to the track he intended to pursue.
I think I have a clue by which his address may be ascertained.
Perhaps, in that characteristic might be found a clue to the chief fault in his nature.
Nobody ever got any clue to the reason, if there was one, for this predilection of hers.
British Dictionary definitions for clue 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 Show More
verb clues , cluing or clued (tr; usually foll by in or up) to provide with helpful information Show More
a variant spelling of clew Show More
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 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.
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
