Clue Meaning

/kluː/
A2

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounA strand of yarn etc. as used to guide one through a labyrinth; something which points the way, a guide.

nounInformation which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion.

The habits of highly intelligent people offer a clue as to how to do that.
There was no clue as to the identity of the murderer.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The detective found a single ____ at the crime scene that solved the case.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The detective found an important ____ at the scene of the crime.

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”).

"she had even had in the past a small smug conviction that in the domestic labyrinth she always kept the clue." — 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
"Black tracks on the magneto, a hairline crack in the flywheel casing, pitted points or a spitless exhaust — all are clues to potential conkouts" — 1965, Popular Mechanics, volume 123, number 3, page 140:
"I stared into my mind for some image to clue me what to say but I saw only blackness there." — 2014, John Macgregor, The Antibiography of Ian Mcnulty:
"If the lee-side of the sail were clued up, the risk would be small compared with what it would be were the sheet nearly aft and the whole sail full of wind on starting the tack." — 1864, John McNeill Boyd, A Manual for Naval Cadets, page 444:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The detective found a single ____ at the crime scene that solved the case.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The detective found an important ____ at the scene of the crime.

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