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clue

Pronunciation: /kluː/

The English word “clue” has 7 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A strand of yarn etc. as used to guide one through a labyrinth; something which points the way, a guide.
  2. Information which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion.
  3. An object or a kind of indication which may be used as evidence.
  4. Insight or understanding ("to have a clue [about]" or "to have clue". See have a clue, clue stick)
  5. The text that indicates an answer in a crossword puzzle.

verb

  1. To provide with a clue.
  2. To provide someone with information which they lack (often used with "in" or "up").

Etymology

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”).…

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