Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Clue
{
Clew
(klū)
, Clue
, }Noun.
[OE.
clewe
, clowe
, clue
, AS. cleowen
, cliwen
, clywe
ball of thread; akin to D. kluwen
, OHG. chliwa
, chliuwa
, G. dim. kleuel
, knäuel
, and perch. to L. gluma
hull, husk, Skr. glaus
sort of ball or tumor. Perch. akin to E. claw
. √26. Cf. Knawel
.] 1.
A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself.
Untwisting his deceitful
clew
. Spenser.
2.
That which guides or directs one in anything of a doubtful or intricate nature; that which gives a hint in the solution of a mystery.
The
clew
, without which it was perilous to enter the vast and intricate maze of countinental politics, was in his hands. Macaulay.
3.
(Naut.)
(a.)
A lower corner of a square sail, or the after corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
(b.)
A loop and thimbles at the corner of a sail.
(c.)
A combination of lines or nettles by which a hammock is suspended.
Clew garnet
(Naut.)
, one of the ropes by which the clews of the courses of square-rigged vessels are drawn up to the lower yards.
– Clew line
(Naut.)
, a rope by which a clew of one of the smaller square sails, as topsail, topgallant sail, or royal, is run up to its yard.
– Clew-line block
(Naut.)
, The block through which a clew line reeves. See Illust. of
Block
.