clue Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms (4 ed.)
... clue not have a clue know nothing about something or about how to do something. informal ...
Clue Reference library
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain
... 1881: 52; Sussex and Surrey. 1 English: see Clew . 2 English: see Clow...
clue Reference library
Garner's Modern English Usage (5 ed.)
... ; clew . Clue is the only current spelling for the sense “a hint; a bit of evidence.” The spelling clew survives as a nautical term (“the lower corner of a sail”) and in some literal and mythological references to thread and the like (“a ball of thread”). Clue is construed with to or about , not as to —e.g.: • “Documents handed over to defense attorneys for Robert Tulloch, 17, and his best friend, James Parker, 16, contain no clues as to [read clues to or clues about ] why the pair would kill Half and Susanne Zantop.” Franci...
Clue Reference library
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable (19 ed.)
... A ‘clue’ was originally a ‘clew’, i.e. a ball of thread. The only way of finding the way out of the Cretan labyrinth was by following a skein of thread. Cluedo A murder-investigation board game (its name a blend of ‘clue’ and ‘ludo’), invented in 1949 by Anthony Pratt , an English solicitor’s clerk, later a concert pianist. The object is to discover which of six suspects, using which of six weapons, killed Dr Black , found dead after a dinner party, and in which of the nine rooms of his country house the murder took place. The characters, their names...
clue Quick reference
Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins (3 ed.)
...clue [LME] Our word clue is a modern spelling of the old word clew , ‘a ball of thread’. The idea here is of string or thread being used to guide a person out of a maze by tracing a path through it. The most famous example is that of the Greek hero Theseus, who killed the monstrous bull-headed Minotaur in its lair and then escaped from the Labyrinth, an underground maze of tunnels. This he was able to do because the princess Ariadne gave him a ball of twine, which he unravelled as he went in and followed back to find his way out again. From this a clue...
clue n Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakespearean Pronunciation
...clue n = sp clewe 1 ...
Clue Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
... • Current frequencies: GB 137, Ireland 0 • GB frequency 1881: 52 • Main GB location 1881: Sussex and Surrey 1 English : see Clew . 2 English : see Clow . Clue, 1881 frequency. © Archer...
clue v. (US) Reference library
Green's Dictionary of Slang
... v. [SE clue ] ( US ) to inform, to tell; thus clued , aware. 1957 M. Shulman Rally Round the Flag, Boys! ( 1959 ) 188: I' clue you […] There's gonna be a rumble. 1958 (con. 1950 ) E. Frankel Band of Brothers 3: With seven days left till I had to ship out, I clue you, I had my work cut out. 1960 G. Swarthout Where the Boys Are 93: I clue you, nobody can be more fungous than middle-agers on the grape. 1963 M. Spillane Return of the Hood 56: Shaffer had clued his office staff […] and two of them watched me go over the mug...
clue n. Reference library
Green's Dictionary of Slang
... n. [? link to SE clue , an aggrandizement of things, thus used euph.] 1 ( Scot. ) the vagina. c. 1800 ‘The Reels o' Bogie’ in Burns Merry Muses of Caledonia ( 1965 ) 154: By bobbing on my wanton clue, / You see your pintle's all on fire. 2 ( Aus. ) a woman. 1945 Baker Aus. Lang. 3 ( US campus ) a stupid person. 1991 Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 2: clue – someone who is not aware of what's going on. ▪ SE in slang uses ▪ In phrases get a clue ( v. ) [SE colloq. phr. not have a clue ] 1 ( US black ) to become aware. 1983 Eble ...
clue Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
... later form (XV) of CLEW , now restricted mainly to the sense ‘fact, etc., leading (through a difficulty) to a solution or...
clue Quick reference
Fowler’s Concise Dictionary of Modern English Usage (3 ed.)
... is the normal spelling in the group of meanings to do with signs or evidence. Clew , which is a variant of the same word, is now principally used as a nautical term meaning ‘the lower or after corner of a...
clue Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (2 ed.)
... a piece of evidence or information used in the detection of a crime or the solving of a mystery; ultimately a variant of clew meaning ‘a ball of thread’, and in particular that used by Theseus to guide himself through the Labyrinth...
clue Quick reference
New Oxford Rhyming Dictionary (2 ed.)
... • accrue , adieu, ado, anew, Anjou, aperçu, askew, ballyhoo, bamboo, bedew, bestrew, billet-doux, blew, blue, boo, boohoo, brew, buckaroo, canoe, chew, clew, clou, clue, cock-a-doodle-doo, cockatoo, construe, coo, Corfu, coup, crew, Crewe, cru, cue, déjà vu, derring-do, dew, didgeridoo, do, drew, due, endue, ensue, eschew, feu, few, flew, flu, flue, foreknew, glue, gnu, goo, grew, halloo, hereto, hew, Hindu, hitherto, how-do-you-do, hue, Hugh, hullabaloo, imbrue, imbue, jackaroo, Jew, kangaroo, Karroo, Kathmandu, kazoo, Kiangsu, knew, Kru, K2, kung fu,...
