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Clew   Listen
noun
Clue, Clew  n.  
1.
A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself. "Untwisting his deceitful clew."
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."
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.



verb
Clew  v. t.  (past & past part. clewed; pres. part. clewing)  
1.
To direct; to guide, as by a thread. (Obs.) "Direct and clew me out the way to happiness."
2.
(Naut.) To move of draw (a sail or yard) by means of the clew garnets, clew lines, etc.; esp. to draw up the clews of a square sail to the yard.
To clew down (Naut.), to force (a yard) down by hauling on the clew lines.
To clew up (Naut.), to draw (a sail) up to the yard, as for furling.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Clew" Quotes from Famous Books



... plain enough, and it gave me a clew, somehow, to what Melford's nightmare was about. She was calling out, 'Help! help! help! Burglars!' till I thought she would raise the roof ...
— Between The Dark And The Daylight • William Dean Howells

... my vague exploration of that scene of beauty, of those scarcely stirring, stilly burning trees, of that shimmering-fronded fern, of that misty splendour, I was hunting for the soul of it all, for the informing spirit of it all. Harkness's erotics gave ardour to my search, but no clew. I lost him, left him behind, and never found him again. He fell into the Garden of Priapus, I doubt. As for me, I believed that I was now looking upon a Dryad. I was looking certainly at a spirit informed. A being, irradiate and quivering with life and joy of life, stood ...
— Lore of Proserpine • Maurice Hewlett

... our cavalry wore, when on Indian campaign, the forage-cap with its crossed sabres and distinguishing letters. Nothing in the dress or accoutrements of the two men thus advancing to meet the Indian emissaries would give to the latter any clew as to the troop or regiment to which they belonged. Could they see the horses, however, the matter would be settled at once. The U. S. brand, with that of the number of the regiment and letter of the troop showed on every cavalry mount in the service, and the Ogallallas ...
— Warrior Gap - A Story of the Sioux Outbreak of '68. • Charles King

... case and the whole of her jewelry, except what she was wearing, had been stolen. As no arrest had yet been made the references to the affair were naturally guarded. The paragraph even concluded without the usual formula as to the police having a clew. On the whole, I put the paper down with a slight feeling of relief. I felt that ...
— An Amiable Charlatan • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... go and take another look around there. Some man was evidently hurt there, and was taken away. We may get a clew. The lights on the runabout will give us a better chance to look around than we had by the little pocket lamp. We'll try there, and, if we don't find anything, then I'll call ...
— Tom Swift and his Air Scout - or, Uncle Sam's Mastery of the Sky • Victor Appleton


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