| 释义 |
▪ I. clew, n.1|kl(j)uː|
Forms: 1 cliwen, cliowen, cleowen, cliewen, clywen, 3–7 clewe, 3–6 clowe, 4–5 clyw(e, 5– clew. See also clue n.
[OE. cliwen, cleowen, etc. (clywe, in Wr.-Wülcker 187/29, is an error for clywen of the MS.) = MLG. kluwen, Du. kluwen (all neuter), prob. dim. of the word in OHG. kliu, kliwi, kliuwi, MHG. kliuwe, neuter, in same sense. OHG. had also chli(u)wa fem., and dim. chliuwelin; MHG. kliuwel, kliuwelin, also by dissimilation kniuwel, kniulin; mod.G. knäuel clew. The ME. clywe, clewe, were prob. due to loss of the OE. final -n, rather than equivalent to MHG. kliuwe; thence mod. clew. A variant spelling clue (cf. blew, blue, glew, glue, rew, rue, trew, true) appears in 15th c., but was not frequent till 17th; it has now become the prevailing form in the fig. sense 3, which, on account of the obsolescence of 2, is often not felt as fig.
The length of the vowel in OE. is doubtful; some have assumed cléowen as the typical form, but Sievers thinks that it was prob. cliwen:—O Teut. *kliwī̆no- dim. of *kliwjo- (whence OHG. kliu, kliuwi): pre-Teut. type *gleu-ino, f. root glu-, gleu-, to gather into a mass, ‘glomerare’; cf. L. glu-ere, glū-ma, Skr. glâus ball.]
†1. A globular body; a ball (formed by coiling together or conglomeration). Obs.
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xxxv. 241 Se iil..sona sua hiene mon ᵹefehd, sua ᵹewint he to anum cliewene. Ibid. 244 Ðonne ðæt ierre ðæs ytemestan domes..arafeð ðæt cliwen ðære twyfealdan heortan. a1000Phœnix 226 (Gr.), Þa yslan onginnaþ lucan togædere ᵹeclungne to cleowenne. c1000in Thorpe Hom. II. 514 Swilce fyren clywen. c1050Supp. ælfric's Voc. in Wr.-W. 187 Globus, clywen... Glomer, globellum, cleowen. a1250Owl & Night. 578 Þu..þinchest a lutel soti cleowe [v.r. clowe, clewe]. 1508Fisher Wks. 53 Thou shalte..set all wretched synners as a clew or a grete hepe of fyre. 1796Stedman Surinam (1813) I. vii. 162 Both these creatures by forming themselves in a clew, have often more the appearance of excrescences in the bark than that of animals.
b. A round bunch or cluster of things.
1616Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farme 324 If the whole troupe [of bees] be diuided into manie clewes, or round bunches, you need not then doubt but that there are manie Kings. 1669in Phil. Trans. IV. 1018 Of a great clew of worms voided by crude mercury taken inwardly.
2. esp. A ball formed by winding thread; a ball of thread or yarn. (The regular name in Scotland and north of England.)
956in Cod. Dipl. III. 451 (Bosw.), An cliwen godes nettᵹernes. c1050in Wr.-Wülcker 413 Glomer, cleowen. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2140 Ariadne, His wepne, his clewe [v.r. clyw, clew, clywe]..Was by the gayler in the hous I-leyd. c1440Promp. Parv. 83 Clowchyn, or clowe [v.r. clewe], glomus, globus. 1483Cath. Angl. 69 To wynde clowys, glomerare. 1540R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Woman i. viii. (R.), What a fowle thing is it, to see a woman..for hir clewe or prayer booke, to turne the cards. 1580Baret Alv., Clew, bottome of thread. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 346/1 The Weavers Trough is that in which he puts his Clews of Yarn. 1866R. Chambers Ess. Ser. ii. 26 Clews and corks..to roll along the floor.
fig.1601Shakes. All's Well i. iii. 188 If it be so, you haue wound a goodly clewe. 1645Bp. Hall Peace Maker §13 To winde up this clew of our discourse. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxiv, There is aye a wimple in a lawyer's clew. 1879Butcher & Lang Odyss. 9 When he had wound up the clew of war.
b. The cocoon spun by a silkworm or the like.
1599T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 68 From out whose belly..Whole clews of silk scarse half concocted, spring. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Countr. Farme 489 They grow madde vntill they be packed vp in their little clewes and bottomes. 1658Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. Ep. Ded., She first disposeth it for the strengthning of her clew of yarn.
3. A ball of thread, which in various mythological or legendary narratives (esp. that of Theseus in the Cretan Labyrinth) is mentioned as the means of ‘threading’ a way through a labyrinth or maze; hence, in many more or less figurative applications: that which guides through a maze, perplexity, difficulty, intricate investigation, etc.
1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2016 Ariadne, By a clewe of twyn as he hath gon The same weye he may returne a-non ffolwynge alwey the thred as he hath come. 1387Trevisa Higden ii. xx. (Rolls) II. 385 Laborinthus..Ȝif eny man wente þider yn wiþoute a clewe of þrede, it were ful harde to finde a way out. 1494Fabyan i. ccxxxviii, But y⊇ comon fame tellyth, yt lastly the quene wanne to her [Rosamounde] by a clewe of threde, or sylke. 1588Greene Metam. Wks. (Grosart) IX. 28 No courteous Ariadne to giue them a clew of threed to draw them out of their miseries. c1620Fletcher & Mass. Trag. Barnavelt i. i. in Bullen O. Pl. (1883) II. 210 The labourinthes of pollicie I have trod To find the clew of safetie. 1706Addison Rosamond i. iii, Of him that has got Fair Rosamond's bower, With the clew in his power. 1785Crabbe Newspaper 140 With clews like these they tread the maze of state. 1855Prescott Philip II, I. ii. vii. 226 A clew for conducting the student through more than one intricate negotiation.
b. With the literal sense obscured: An indication to follow, a slight direction, a ‘key’. See clue n., the prevalent spelling.
1724Watts Logic iv. ii. §7 For want of some clew [ed. 1813 clue], or connecting idea, to lay hold of. 1760Sterne Serm. Yorick ix. (1773) 41 With this clew, let us endeavour to unravel this character of Herod as here given. 1844Mozley Ess. (1878) II. 36 This distinction gives us the clew to a good deal of Arnold's language. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 647 We may here have lighted on the clew to the great puzzle.
4. Used in reference to the thread of life, which the Fates are represented as spinning.
1615Crooke Body of Man 198 Life..may be compared to a clew of yarne, such as the Poets faigned the Destinies to spin. 1650Bp. Hall Balm Gil. 296 The old man knowes how little of his clew is left in the winding. a1683Oldham On Recov. Poet. Wks. (1686) 50 And for another Clew her Spindle fit. 1821Byron Sardan. v. i. 237 Our clew being well-nigh wound out, let's be cheerful.
5. A thread or cord (in a series).
a1700Dryden (J.), They see small clews draw vastest weights along, Not in their bulk, but in their order, strong.
6. The series of small cords by which a hammock is suspended at the two ends, called respectively the head-clew and foot-clew.
1834M. Scott Cruise Midge (1863) 14 A hammock thrown over his shoulders..the Clew hanging half way down his back. 1837Marryat Dog-fiend xxv, It was sitting on the head-clue of Smallbones's hammock.
7. Naut. A lower corner of a square sail, or the aftmost corner of a fore-and-aft sail, to which are made fast the tacks and sheets by which it is extended and held to the lower yard. † to spread a large (full, small) clew: (of a square sail) to have the two lower corners of the sail wide (or otherwise) apart; hence, to spread large (or small) canvas. from clew to earing: lit. the diagonal of a square sail: fig. from bottom to top, ‘from top to toe’, completely.
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 32 When the Saile is large and hath a good Clew, we say she spreds a large Clew, or spreds much Canuas. 1645Bp. Hall Remed. Discontents 62 Having that large clew which they spread, expos'd to all windes. 1698Capt. Langford in Phil. Trans. XX. 412 The Clews of the Sails I spik'd all down to the Timbers. 1707J. Harris Lex. Techn., Clew of the Sail of a Ship is the lower Corner of it which reaches down to that Earing where the Tackles and Sheats are fastned. 1875Bedford Sailor's Pocket-bk. vi. (ed. 2) 215 If weights be fastened to the clews, the boat's drift will be much retarded.
b. transf. The expanse of the wings (of a bird).
1608Sylvester Du Bartas, Job (1621) 946 Is't by thy wisdom that the Hawk doth mew, And to the southward spreads her winged clew?
8. clew up: an act of clewing up a sail; fig. a case of despair. (Adm. Smyth.)
9. Comb. clew-bottom, a bottom or reel to wind a clew on; in quot. fig.
1737Ozell Rabelais ii. vii. II. 40 The clew-bottom of Theology.
▪ II. clew
dial. form of clow, sluice.
▪ III. clew, v.|kluː|
[f. clew n.; now usu. clue v., though the older spelling is often retained in Naut. use.]
1. trans. To coil up into a ball.
c1420Chron. Vilod. 885 Þis blessud mayde clewȝthe up her leggus herre to. 1818Scott Leg. Montrose xiii, To lie..clew'd up like a hurchin.
2. To point out as by a clew or clue.
a1625Beaum. & Fl. Wom. Pleased ii. v, A woman might awake me, Direct, and clew me out the way to happinesse.
3. Naut. to clew up: to draw the lower ends or clews (of sails) up to the upper yard or the mast in preparation for furling or for making ‘goose-wings’. to clew down: to let down (sails) by the clews in unfurling them. Also absol.
a1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 346 We with all manner of Expedition clew'd up and furl'd her other Sails. 1834M. Scott Cruise Midge (1863) 161 We found it necessary to clew up every thing but the close reefed fore sail. 1840R. Dana Bef. Mast v. 9 We had hardly time to haul down and clew up before it was upon us. Ibid., We clewed down, and hauled out the reef-tackles again.
▪ IV. clew, -e
obs. pa. tense of claw v. |