Clew , v. t. [imp. & p. p. & vb. n. Clewing.]
[Cf. D.
kluwenen. See Clew, n.]
1. To direct; to guide, as by a thread. [Obs.]
Direct and
clew me out the way to happiness.
Beau. && Fl.
2.
(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.
{ Clew (klū), Clue, }
n. [OE. clewe, clowe,
clue, AS. cleowen,
cliwen, clywe ball of thread; akin to D.
kluwen, OHG. chliwa, chliuwa, G. dim. kleuel, knäuel, and perch. to
L. gluma hull, husk, Skr. glaus sort of ball or tumor. Perch. akin to E. claw. √26. Cf. Knawel.]
1. A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also,
The thread itself.
Untwisting his deceitful clew.
Spenser.
2. 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.
3.
(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.
Hear it pronounced