Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

clue

/kluː/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms clues cluing clueing clued clew

  1. noun (now rare) A strand of yarn etc. as used to guide one through a labyrinth; something which points the way, a guide.
  2. noun Information which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion. “Give me a clue because the question is too vague.”
  3. noun An object or a kind of indication which may be used as evidence. “The detectives were looking for some clues at the scene of the crime.”
  4. noun Insight or understanding ("to have a clue [about]" or "to have clue". See have a clue, clue stick) “I had little clue that I was being carefully monitored by the CCTV.”
  5. noun (crosswording) The text that indicates an answer in a crossword puzzle.
  6. verb To provide with a clue. “The crossword compiler wasn't sure how to clue the word "should".”
  7. verb To provide someone with information which they lack (often used with "in" or "up"). “Smith, clue Jones in on what's been happening.”
  8. proper noun The board game Cluedo whose goal is to solve the mystery of a fictitious murder.

Synonyms

hint indication suggestion idea signature clew cue

Etymology

Variant of clew (“a ball of thread or yarn”), from Middle English clew, clewe, clowe, clue, clwe, clyw, clywe, from Old English clēowen, clīewen, clīowen, clīwen, clȳwe, clȳwen (“ball, sphere; skein”), from Proto-West Germanic *kliuwīn (“ball, clump”), from Proto-Germanic *kliuwīną, *klewô (“bale, ball, clump, mass”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up, clump together; lump, swelling”). Sense evolution with reference to the one which the mythical Theseus used to guide him out of the Minotaur's labyrinth. More at clew.
Cognate with Cimbrian khnaul (“ball of yarn”), Dutch kluwe, kluwen (“ball thread or yarn, clew”), German Knäuel (“ballyarn; tangle”), Norwegian Nynorsk kljå (“a loom weight”); also Sanskrit ग्लौ (glau, “the moon; camphor; the earth”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A ball of thread, yarn, or cord; also, The thread itself.
  2. noun 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.
  3. noun A ball of thread; a thread or other means of guidance. Same as Clew.

Etymology [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.]

Etymology [See Clew, n.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “clue”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “clue” (best matches first).