clew noun.
[klu:] See also
CLUE noun.
[Old English cliwen, cleowen = Middle Low German, Dutch kluwen, from base also of Old High German kliuwa, kliuwi ball, sphere, prob. ult. rel. to CLAW noun1.]1. A globular body; a rounded mass.
OE-L18.b. A round bunch or cluster.
E17-E18.2. A ball of thread or yarn.
arch. OE.3. spec.a. A ball of yarn etc. used to trace a path through a maze (as in the Greek myth of Theseus in the Labyrinth); a thing which guides through perplexity, a difficult investigation, an intricate structure, etc.
LME.b. =
CLUE noun 4a.
E18.4. The mythological thread of life spun by the Fates.
E17.5. Nautical. The lower or after corner of a sail. (Earlier as
CLUE noun 2.)
E17.6. Nautical. The series of cords by which a hammock is suspended.
M18.
Comb.:
clew-garnet Nautical a tackle to clew up the courses or lower square-sails in furling;
clew-line Nautical a tackle connecting the clew of a sail to the upper yard or mast; occas. =
clew-garnet above.
[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲
clew verb.
[klu:] See also
CLUE verb.
LME.[from the noun.]1. verb trans. Coil
up into a ball.
LME.2. verb trans. Point
out or trace (as) by a clew or clue.
rare.
E17.3. verb trans. & intrans. Nautical. Draw the lower ends of (a sail)
up to the upper yard or mast ready for furling; let
down (a sail) by clews in unfurling.
M18. [TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲