cue

¹ American  

[kyoo] / kju /

noun

1. anything said or done, on or off stage, that is followed by a specific line or action.

   An off-stage door slam was his cue to enter.

   Synonyms:

   signal

2. anything that excites to action; stimulus.

3. a hint; intimation; guiding suggestion.

   Synonyms:

   inkling, tip, key, hint, sign

4. the part a person is to play; a prescribed or necessary course of action.

5. a sensory signal used to identify experiences, facilitate memory, or organize responses.

6. Archaic. frame of mind; mood.

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verb (used with object)

cued, cuing

1. to provide with a cue or indication; give a cue to; prompt.

   Will you cue me on my lines?

2. to insert, or direct to come in, in a specific place in a musical or dramatic performance (usually followed by in orinto ).

   to cue in a lighting effect.

3. to search for and reach (a specific track on a recording) (sometimes followed byup ).

idioms

1. miss a cue,

   1. to fail to respond to a cue.

   2. Informal. to miss the point.

      You could tell by his expression that he had missed a cue.

2. cue (someone) in, to inform; give instructions, information, news, etc., to.

   Cue him in on the plans for the dance.

cue ² American  

[kyoo] / kju /

noun

1. a long, tapering rod, tipped with a soft leather pad, used to strike the ball in billiards, pool, etc.

2. a long, usually wooden stick with a concave head, used to propel the disks in shuffleboard.

3. a queue or braid of hair worn behind the head.

4. a queue or file, as of persons awaiting their turn.

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verb (used with object)

cued, cuing

1. to tie into a queue.

2. to strike with a cue.

cue ³ American  

[kyoo] / kju /

noun

1. the letter Q, q.

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cue ¹ British  

/ kjuː /

noun

1. 1. (in the theatre, films, music, etc) anything spoken or done that serves as a signal to an actor, musician, etc, to follow with specific lines or action

   2. at the right moment

2. a signal or reminder to do something

3. psychol the part of any sensory pattern that is identified as the signal for a response

4. the part, function, or action assigned to or expected of a person

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verb

1. (tr) to give a cue or cues to (an actor)

2. to signal (to something or somebody) at a specific moment in a musical or dramatic performance

   to cue in a flourish of trumpets

3. (tr) to give information or a reminder to (someone)

4. (intr) to signal the commencement of filming, as with the word "Action!"

cue ² British  

/ kjuː /

noun

1. billiards snooker a long tapered shaft with a leather tip, used to drive the balls

2. hair caught at the back forming a tail or braid

3. a variant spelling of queue

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verb

1. to drive (a ball) with a cue

2. (tr) to twist or tie (the hair) into a cue

Usage

What does cue mean? A cue is any planned action that triggers an actor’s response or line of dialogue in performance art, as in I’m so embarrassed that I missed my cue to walk on stage!A cue is more generally something that triggers an action, as in The teacher handing out the test was our cue to put our books away. A cue can also be a hint, I should have seen my mother’s angry face as my cue to apologize. To cue means to provide a hint or prompt for an action, as in The actors cued each other during rehearsal so they could memorize all the cues. To cue can also mean to insert or direct to come in, as in Cue the music, and raise the curtain!Example: Juan came in on cue but flubbed his line, so we had to reshoot the scene.

Etymology

Origin of cue¹

First recorded in 1545–55; spelled name of the letter q as an abbreviation (found in acting scripts) of Latin quandō “when”

Origin of cue²

First recorded in 1740–50; from French queue “tail,” Old French cöe, coue, from Latin cōda, popular form of cauda “tail”; cf. coward, queue

Origin of cue³

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English cu; conventional adaptation in spelling of the letter name

Explanation

A cue is the long stick used for playing pool. A cue is also a reminder or stimulus to do something. In pool, you use the cue to hit the white ball into the red ball, aiming for a pocket. Other cues make things happen too. In acting, a lighting change or another actor's line could be a cue for you to enter the stage. During rehearsal, the actors need to learn their cues to make sure their timing is right. A cue can also be a clue or reminder of something. Anytime someone has good timing, they're on cue.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cue cued cuing

The bite, it turns out, was less a culmination than an exit cue.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

When sharing time is over, that’s your cue to stop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Instead of taking 100 swings in the cage with a specific cue, he’s building up from a blank slate every day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026

In fact, they needed snookers while playing blind-folded and without a cue ball.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026

I snap the book shut and as if on cue, several cuckoos appear from intricately carved wooden clocks, announcing the hour half past.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

On weekends, he had a different moniker, DJ Steve King, as he cued up Elvis and Everly Brothers tunes on his father’s radio station.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025

When Olsen cued up “Frozen Love” at Sound City, Fleetwood couldn’t believe his ears.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2025

They come together, cued by the conductor, with a sense of nature’s unpredictability.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2025

"The intelligence cued it up, we had sight of the whole area and we worked together. No other group of nations can do that in the world."

From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2024

When I get over there precisely seventeen minutes later, she’s also showered and changed and has I Love Lucy season four cued up on the TV.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

“You see the band watching him, you see him cuing them, you see the playfulness, the spontaneity, the fan reactions and his reactions to them,” Gausman continued.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026

For my money, the mark of any music book worth its salt is measured by the number of times I find myself cuing up another tune.

From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2025

Like his first projects, the video heightens the essence of the spectacle, but does so by exploring the margins: brass musicians’ puffing cheeks, producers cuing commercial breaks, players’ ankles on the sidelines.

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2024

She also suggested enrolling in electricity demand response programs, which let you sign up for text alerts when the grid is overloaded, cuing you to switch the A/C to fan or turn other appliances off.

From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2023

Panel member Anuse finally came to the rescue with a cuing question and a long discussion ensued as to how SmurFFs were handled in the department and what happened to them.

From Wild Justice by Sprague, Ruth M.

Related Words

• clue
• hint
• suggestion