clew

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an archaic or literary spelling of clue: a fact or sign that helps solve a problem or find something

   The torn envelope provided the detective with a clew to the sender's identity.

2. 2
   noun

   a ball of thread, yarn, or cord

   She wound the loose wool into a neat clew before putting it away.

3. 3
   noun

   a lower corner of a sail, or the loop at that corner to which a sheet is attached

   The sailor secured the sheet to the clew of the mainsail.

4. 4
   verb

   to haul the lower corners of a sail upward or downward by means of ropes

   The crew clewed up the sail as the squall approached.

From Middle English clewe, from Old English cliewen ("ball or skein"), ultimately from a Proto-Germanic word for a ball or mass. A thread used to guide someone through a maze gave rise to the figurative sense "guide or piece of evidence"; the spelling clue later became standard for that sense, while clew remained in literary and nautical use.

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