clue

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• /kluː/
  Play
• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• obsolete: /kljuː/
  Play
• rhymes with -uː
  Play
• homophone: clew
  Play
• homophone: clou
  Play
• homophone: CLU
  Play
• CMU ARPABET: K L UW1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  Play

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”). Sense evolution with reference to the one which the mythical Theseus used to guide him out of the Minotaur's labyrinth. More at clew. Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian khnaul (“ball of yarn”), Dutch kluwe, kluwen (“ball thread or yarn, clew”), German Knäuel (“ballyarn; tangle”), Norwegian Nynorsk kljå (“a loom weight”); also Sanskrit ग्लौ (glau, “the moon; camphor; the earth”).

103 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• German: Hinweis — something which points the way, a guide
• Hungarian: kulcs — something which points the way, a guide
• Hungarian: nyitja — something which points the way, a guide
• Hungarian: megoldás — something which points the way, a guide
• Hungarian: útmutatás — something which points the way, a guide
• Indonesian: petunjuk — something which points the way, a guide
• Bhojpuri: संकेत (saṅkēt) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Bulgarian: указа́ние (ukazánie) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Chinese Mandarin: 線索 /线索 (xiànsuǒ) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Czech: klíč — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Czech: vodítko — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Czech: nápověda — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Danish: spor — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Danish: holdepunkt — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Danish: fingerpeg — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Danish: nøgle — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Danish: ledetråd — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Dutch: aanwijzing — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Dutch: spoor — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Esperanto: indico — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Finnish: johtolanka — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Finnish: vihje — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• French: indice — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• German: Anhaltspunkt — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• German: Hinweis — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• German: Faden — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Greek: ένδειξη (éndeixi) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Ancient Greek: ἔνδειξις (éndeixis) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Hebrew: רמז (remez) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Hindi: संकेत (saṅket) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Hungarian: támpont — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Hungarian: fogódzó — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Hungarian: meghatározás — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Indonesian: petunjuk — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Italian: indizio — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Italian: pista — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Japanese: 手掛かり (tegakari) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Japanese: 切っ掛け (kikkake) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Japanese: きっかけ (kikkake) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Korean: 실마리 (silmari) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Māori: tīwhiri — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Norwegian Bokmål: ledetråd — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Norwegian Bokmål: ariadnetråd — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Polish: podpowiedź — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Portuguese: indício — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Portuguese: sugestão — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Portuguese: pista — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Romanian: indiciu — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Russian: ключ (ključ) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Russian: нить (nitʹ) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Russian: след (sled) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Russian: указа́тель (ukazátelʹ) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Scottish Gaelic: gliocas — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Serbo-Croatian: indicija — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Spanish: pista — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Spanish: indicio — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Swedish: ledtråd — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Thai: เบาะแส (bɔ̀-sɛ̌ɛ) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Thai: ร่องรอย (rɔ̂ng-rɔɔi) — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Turkish: ipucu — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Vietnamese: manh mối — information that may lead one to a certain point or conclusion
• Bulgarian: ули́ка (ulíka) — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Chinese Mandarin: 證據 /证据 (zhèngjù) — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Danish: spor — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Esperanto: indico — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Finnish: johtolanka — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Finnish: näyttö — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Finnish: todiste — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• French: indice — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• French: piste — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• German: Indiz — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Hungarian: nyom — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Hungarian: bűnjel — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Hungarian: nyomra vezető jel — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Italian: prova — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Japanese: 手掛かり (tegakari) — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Korean: 실마리 (silmari) — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Latin: indicium — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Norwegian Bokmål: ledetråd — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Portuguese: pista — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Portuguese: indício — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Romanian: indiciu — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Russian: ули́ка (ulíka) — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Serbo-Croatian: indicija — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Spanish: indicio — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Swedish: ledtråd — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• Thai: เบาะแส (bɔ̀-sɛ̌ɛ) — object or marking that may be used in evidence
• French: idée — insight or understanding
• Hebrew: מושג — insight or understanding
• Hebrew: מֻשָּׂג (muság) — insight or understanding
• Hungarian: fogalma — insight or understanding
• Hungarian: gőze — insight or understanding
• Norwegian Bokmål: innsikt — insight or understanding
• Norwegian Bokmål: forståelse — insight or understanding
• Romanian: idee — insight or understanding
• Romanian: habar — insight or understanding
• Welsh: clem — insight or understanding
• Dutch: een tip geven — to provide with a clue
• Dutch: inlichten — to provide with information
• Dutch: informeren — to provide with information
• French: informer — to provide with information
• German: informieren — to provide with information
• German: unterrichten — to provide with information