clew
Meanings
Plural: clews
Noun
- a ball of yarn or cord or thread
- evidence that helps to solve a problem
- A roughly spherical mass or body.
- A ball of thread or yarn.
- Yarn or thread as used to guide one's way through a maze or labyrinth; a guide, a clue.
- The lower corner(s) of a sail to which a sheet is attached for trimming the sail (adjusting its position relative to the wind); the metal loop or cringle in the corner of the sail, to which the sheet is attached. (on a triangular sail) The trailing corner relative to the wind direction.
- The sheets so attached to a sail.
- The cords suspending a hammock.
- Obsolete spelling of clue.
Verb
- roll into a ball
- to roll into a ball
- to raise the lower corner(s) of (a sail)
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English clewe, from Old English cleowen, cliewen, cliwen (“sphere, ball, skein; ball of thread or yarn; mass, group”), from Proto-Germanic *kliuwiną, *klewô (“ball, bale”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to conglomerate, gather into a mass; clump, ball, bale”). Akin to Old English clǣġ (“clay”).
Scrabble Score: 9
clew is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordclew is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
clew is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 11
clew is a valid Words With Friends word