Word Direct Answers

What does "clew" mean?

Clew: That which guides or directs one in anything of a doubtful or intricate nature; that which gives a hint in the solution of a mystery. The clew, without which it was perilous to enter the vast and intricate maze of countinental politics, was in his hands. Macaulay.

Additional senses

  1. 2.(Naut.) (a.) A lower corner of a square sail, or the after corner of a fore- and-aft sail. (b.) A loop and thimbles at the corner of a sail. (c.) A combination of lines or nettles by which a hammock is suspended. Clew garnet (Naut.), one of the ropes by which the clews of the courses of square-rigged vessels are drawn up to the lower yards. -- Clew line (Naut.), a rope by which a clew of one of the smaller square sails, as topsail, topgallant sail, or royal, is run up to its yard. -- Clew-line block (Naut.), The block through which a clew line reeves. See Illust. of Block.
  2. 3.To direct; to guide, as by a thread. [Obs.] Direct and clew me out the way to happiness. Beau. && Fl.
  3. 4.(Naut.) To move of draw (a sail or yard) by means of the clew garnets, clew lines, etc.; esp. to draw up the clews of a square sail to the yard. To clew down (Naut.), to force (a yard) down by hauling on the clew lines. -- To clew up (Naut.), to draw (a sail) up to the yard, as for furling.

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