Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 106 Cu, halfe a farthynge, or q, calcus..minutum.

?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. Biv^v All these,..are scantly worth a kewe.

1526 J. Skelton Magnyfycence 36 Not worthe a cue.

1543 R. Record Ground of Artes Figures of Monye A kewe, the .viii. part of .i. penny.

1594 J. Lyly Mother Bombie iv. ii. sig. G2 [To Halfpenny] Rather praie there be no fall of monie, for thou wilt then go for a que.

1597 1st Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus i. i. 434 Adew single beare and three qus of breade.

1600 P. Holland tr. Florus Breviaries lv, in tr. Livy Rom. Hist. 1241 A small peece of silver of three halfepence farthing cue.

1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas Cue, halfe a farthing, so called because they set down in the Battling or Butterie Bookes in Oxford and Cambridge the letter q. for halfe a farthing, and in Oxford when they make that Cue or q. a farthing, they say, Cap my q. and make it a farthing thus ?.

a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 77 Some..divide the Farthing into 2 Ques, the Q into 2 Cees.

1603 Patient Grissill (Shaks. Soc.) 9 Eight to a neck of mutton—is not that your commons?—and a cue of bread.

1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. C2 Hast thou worne gownes in the University..Eate Cues, drunke Cees?

1640 H. Glapthorne Wit in Constable i. sig. Bii You're not now Amongst your cues at Cambridge.

1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 31 He never drunk above siz-q of Helicon.

1831 P. Wingate in B. Peirce Hist. Harvard Univ. (1833) 219 We were allowed at dinner a cue of beer, which was a half-pint.

1654 E. Gayton Pleasant Notes Don Quixot iii. x. 141 Cardenio is rais'd a Cue above the Don.

1553 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) III. App. xi. 31 Amen must be answered to the thanksgevyng not as to a mans q in a playe.

1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 183 Curst be thy stones, for thus deceiuing mee..Deceiuing mee is Thisbyes cue: she is to enter now, and I am to spy Her through the wall.

1736 H. Fielding Pasquin ii. 24 That I might use him like a Dog. Promp... Where is this Servant?..Why don't you mind your Cue? Serv. O, ay, Dog's my Cue.

1882 Daily Tel. 7 Dec. The prompter was away..and the ‘cues’ were not properly given.

1884 G. Moore Mummer's Wife (1887) 121 ‘Cue for the soldier's entrance’, shouted the prompter.

1880 G. Grove Dict. Music I. 423 A few notes of some other part immediately preceding the entrance of his own are..printed small in the stave as a guide; and this is called a cue.

1932 Techn. Descr. Broadcasting House (B.B.C.) 76/1 In certain announcing rooms..a cue light is installed, so that the announcer may..give a cue to, say, the conductor of an orchestra to commence.

1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 214/2 Cue (Cinematography), an indication, visual or aural, for action or speech on the part of someone, during continuity.

1948 Brit. Stand. 1492 6 The motor cue shall consist of circular opaque marks with transparent outlines... The change-over cue shall consist of 4 frames.

1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio vi. 109 All BBC studios are equipped with green cue lights.

1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio vi. 110 For talks, etc. cue lights are also used to help regulate the timing and pace of the programmes.

1978 Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. a18/5 (advt.) Features automatic tape shut-off, cue and review keys, [etc.].

1982 Daily Tel. 30 July 3/6 (advt.) Looks terrific—sounds even better. Cue/review. Mute switch.

1984 Listener 3 May 20/2 (advt.) The 615 VHS video has the facility to record up to 4 hours on an E-240 cassette, picture search functions like cue, review, freeze frame, and 9 function wired remote control.

1985 Electronics Week 7 Jan. 9 The unit features instant replay or cue on the black and white picture tube of its electronic viewfinder or on a standard color monitor TV.

1985 Which? Feb. 74/2 Fast picture search (sometimes called shuttle search or cue and review) is provided on all home video recorders: it plays the tape..at from four to 12 times normal speed.

1565 J. Calfhill Aunswere Treat. Crosse f. 94^v For he shut in one before, of purpose, to open it when hys quew came.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. iv. 26 Had not you come vpon your kew my Lo: William L: Hastings had now pronounst your part.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) ii. ii. 563 What would he doe, Had he the Motiue and the Cue for passion That I haue?

1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue (1630) 51 Herevpon my Companion taking his Q. It is not (quoth he) any lacke of..hanging in the aire.

1659 H. L'Estrange Alliance Divine Offices 317 They had no other queve to direct them, then the loud pronunciation [etc.].

1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 233 My Merchant gave me my Cue, and by his Direction I answer'd.

a1734 R. North Examen (1740) ii. iv. §119 293 Who was..to take his Ques from her, and to move and do as she inclined him.

1863 G. J. Whyte-Melville Gladiators II. 268 His comrades kept behind him, taking their cue from his conduct.

1647 H. Vaughan Son-dayes iii A taste of Heav'n on earth; the pledge and Cue Of a full feast.

1931 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Apr. 342 The sensory cue of the image on the retina.

1940 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Jan. 228 Tactile and labyrinthine ‘cues’ may come to be interpreted by the blind with the characteristic immediacy which we associate with visual apprehension.

1956 Language 32 274 (title) Acoustic cues for nasal consonants.

1963 Amer. Speech 38 73 Since listeners identify members of minimal pairs with the aid of contextual cues, stress placement has no functional role.

1966 Listener 6 Oct. 503/1 This business of olfactory cues, as they are called, has been recognized in mammals too..but..overlooked in man.