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clew

Pronunciation: /kluː/

The English word “clew” has 8 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A roughly spherical mass or body.
  2. A ball of thread or yarn.
  3. Yarn or thread as used to guide one's way through a maze or labyrinth; a guide, a clue.
  4. The lower corner(s) of a sail to which a sheet is attached for trimming the sail (adjusting its position relative to the wind); the metal loop or cringle in the corner of the sail, to which the sheet is attached. (on a triangular sail) The trailing corner relative to the wind direction.
  5. The sheets so attached to a sail.
  6. The cords suspending a hammock.

verb

  1. to roll into a ball
  2. to raise the lower corner(s) of (a sail)

Etymology

From Middle English clew, clewe, clowe, clue, clwe, clyw, clywe, from Old English clēowen, clīewen, clīowen, clīwen, clȳwe, clȳwen (“ball, sphere; skein”), from Proto-Germanic *kliuwiną, *klewô (“bale, ball, clump, mass”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up, clump together; lump, swelling”). Akin to Old English clǣġ (“clay”). Doublet of knawel. Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian khnaul…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.