Definition of "clew"
clew
noun
plural clews
(obsolete) A roughly spherical mass or body.
Quotations
Both theſe creatures [the "ai" (aye-aye?) and "unan"], by forming themſelves in a clew, have often more the appearance of excreſcences in the bark, than that of animals.
1796, J[ohn] G[abriel] Stedman, chapter VII, in Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South America; […], volume I, London: J[oseph] Johnson, […], and J. Edwards, […], page 153
(archaic) A ball of thread or yarn.
Quotations
[O]nely ſinneAnd helliſh obſtinacie tye thy tongueThat truth ſhould be ſuſpected, ſpeake, iſ't ſo?If it be ſo, you haue wound a goodly clewe:If it be not, forſweare't how ere I charge thee,As heauen ſhall work in me for thine auaileTo tell me truelie.
c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene iii], page 234, column 1
A rare, precious, and never interrupted race of philosophers to whom wisdom, like another Ariadne, seems to have given a clew of thread which they have been walking along unwinding since the beginning of the world, through the labyrinth of human affairs.
1831, Victor Hugo, translated by Isabel Florence Hapgood, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(nautical) 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.
Quotations
Quotations
To this horrible mystery there is not as yet, we believe, the slightest clew.
1841 April, Edgar A[llan] Poe, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, in George R[ex] Graham, Rufus W[ilmot] Griswold, editors, Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine. […], volume XVIII, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa.: George R. Graham, page 169, column 2
They had followed immediately behind him, thinking it barely possible that his actions might prove a clew to my whereabouts, and had witnessed my short but decisive battle with him.
1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co.; republished as “A Fight that Won Friends”, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1917 October, page 59