英语词汇“clue”的英英意思、用法、释义、翻译、读音、例句、短语、词组-英语词典

WORD ORIGINclue1

Origin:

1500-1600 clew ‘ball of string’ (11-19 centuries), from Old English cliewen; from the use of a ball of string for finding the way out of a network of passages

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES

The FBI sorted through the suspects' garbage in hopes of finding clues.

EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS

A careful history may give a clue as to the origin.
An answer to that question might give clues to the broader question of the function of sleep.
But there can also be trickery using material clues.
First, the fairly simple trick of separating two component parts of a clue by a number of pages.
I smoked one cigarette after another, but that was the only clue to my tumult.
Police are investigating but said they had no clue as to the motive.
The back-drops to portrait photos in the photographer's studio can also offer important dating clues.
When Silverstein switched off the tape and asked the students to write down a clue, they were simply lost.

Longman Language Activatorto not know anything about a subject► not know anything/know nothing

· Don't ask me. I know nothing at all about fixing cars.· No one else at school knew anything about jazz.know nothing of formal · When he arrived in Venice he knew almost nothing of its history or culture.

► have no idea/not have a clue

informal to know nothing at all about how to do something: · I'm amazed how he puts all the bits of the computer back together. I wouldn't have a clue.have no idea/not have a clue about: · After nine years of marriage, he still didn't have a clue about what she really wanted.have no idea/not have a clue how/what/where etc: · It became clear that the sales people didn't have any idea how to sell the new products.

► be a closed book

British a subject that is a closed book to someone is one that they know nothing about, and that they believe they will never understand: · For many people, science is something of a closed book.

to not know a fact or piece of information► not know

· "What time's the next train to Paris?" "I'm sorry, I don't know."· I wish I could tell you the name of the restaurant but I honestly don't know it.not know anything about · These days, record companies are usually owned by people who don't know anything about music.not know how/what/why etc · I don't know why it is so difficult to explain the concept to people.· No one knows if there really is a Loch Ness monster, or if it's just a myth.not know (that) · My mother never knew that they'd called the police out that night.

► have no idea/not have a clue

especially spoken say this when you know nothing at all about the answer to a question, so that you cannot even guess what it might be: · "How much is this painting worth?" "I'm sorry, I've no idea."· When I asked where Louise had gone, he said he didn't have a clue.have no idea/not have a clue what/how/who etc: · That guy obviously doesn't have a clue how to put a Web page together.· I fell asleep half way through the film, and I have absolutely no idea how it ended.

► not have the faintest/slightest/foggiest idea

also not have the least idea British spoken say this when you want to say very strongly that you know nothing at all: · "Do you know where he was going after he left here?" "I don't have the slightest idea."not have the faintest/slightest/foggiest idea what/how/where etc: · I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about -- can you explain please?· Nobody at that time had the slightest idea about how caffeine affected the body.not have the faintest/slightest/foggiest idea about: · They didn't have the least idea about how to put up a tent.

► (it) beats me

spoken say this when you do not know and cannot understand why something happens: · "What I can't understand is why they make you wait three months just to give you a stamp on your passport." "Beats me too."(it) beats me how/why etc: · It beats me how these kids can afford to spend so much money on clothes and CDs.

► don't ask me/how should I know?

spoken informal say this when it is impossible for you to know the answer to a question, especially when you are annoyed or surprised that someone has asked you: · "Why is Sharon in such a bad mood?" "How should I know - she never tells me anything."· "We figured we could pay about $200 a week, right?" "Don't ask me! I wasn't in on the conversation."

► who knows?

spoken say this when you think it is impossible for anyone to know the answer to a question: · The world might end tomorrow. Who knows?

► I give up

spoken say this when you do not know the answer to a difficult question or a joke, and you want someone to tell you: · "Guess who's coming to dinner tonight?" "I give up. Tell me."· "Why did the chicken cross the road?" "I give up, why did the chicken cross the road?"

COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYverbs► provide a clue

· Any information could provide the police with useful clues.

► hold a clue

(also yield a clue formal) (=provide one)· The poem itself holds a clue about who it was written for.

► leave a clue

· The bombers may have left behind vital clues.

► search (something) for clues

· Detectives are still searching the house for clues.

► look for/hunt for clues

· Investigators descended on the crime scene hunting for clues.

► find a clue

· No one had found any clues as to where the missing girl could be.

adjectives► an important/useful/valuable clue

· The car used in the robbery may provide important clues.

► a vital clue

(=very important)· A videotape could hold vital clues to the criminal’s identity.

► a further clue

(=an additional clue)· They searched the surrounding area for further clues.

phrases► a search for clues

· She opened every drawer in her desperate search for clues.

COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE► good

· Rabbit footprints and the very recent removal of fresh soil are good clues but even these are not conclusive.· But my father was no good for clues.· It is the segregation of employment by gender which gives the best clues as to why women generally earn less than men.· Voice is one of the best clues to sandgrouse identification.· The best clue to the source of the error is that software tends to fail in logical ways.· The best clue to the mens' identity is a clear trademark on the back of one jacket as the robbers leave.· So good old classical clues will almost certainly have vanished altogether.

► important

· The back-drops to portrait photos in the photographer's studio can also offer important dating clues.· Therefore, the detection of respiratory alkalosis may represent an important diagnostic clue to more serious illness.· These differentials give us important clues about the motivation and causes of the fertility decline.· However, one of the most important clues for its diagnosis, is an increase in the renal tubular reabsorption of calcium.· And yet these two biographical details provide important clues to an understanding of Magnard's peculiar psychological makeup.· History offers the most important clues.· X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic techniques continue to provide important clues, leading towards an understanding of the remarkable specificity of enzymatic catalysis.· In this account an important clue is found.

► useful

· You could pick up some useful clues to another site.· The first and perhaps most useful clue is that in the majority of cases the rash is non-irritating.

► valuable

· Old photographs can also hold valuable clues.· A valuable clue to the problem of resupply of asteroids came to scientists' attention in a strange way.· Surprisingly little is recorded about the techniques of ship construction at that time, and the wreck may provide valuable clues.· Studies of the spectra of about fifty NEAs have given us some valuable clues to their nature and origin.

► visual

· It focusses them on some of the visual clues they might otherwise miss.· Location inserts potentially give the strongest visual clues to programme content.· Look instead for books for his age with plenty of visual clues, and read them together.· They also use a range of visual clues of the kind we spoke about earlier in this chapter.· We are not really aware of how we draw on visual clues in our interpretation of what we hear.

► vital

· The man got away but he may have left a vital clue.· These could provide vital clues to climate change.· A woman who spoke to detectives last year could have a vital clue, but be too terrified to telephone again.· Elizabeth's last film reveals vital clues overlooked by clumsy Clouseau-class coppers who had already wiped out other vital evidence.· The vital clue to an individual's sickness may come through any of the senses, so use them all.· Gusev knew from experience that sooner or later something would emerge and give the vital clue.· I recognise that practitioners will in some cases incur fruitless costs in the search for such a vital clue where none exists.· As such, it gives a vital clue to his thinking.

VERB► find

· If Susan is as smart as her reputation, she can find her clue in the river.· It's not just you who finds the clues though.· I asked, hoping to find some clues there.· They find no clues - so they say.· To find clues we asked market historian and newsletter writer Martin Zweig.· We can find some living clues back on the reef.· Not so that you could find it as a clue.

► get

· She knew we'd got a clue, even if she didn't know what it was.· Buy a map, turkeys -- and get a clue.· She says that they haven't got a clue what's going on.· We don't know how to change the strings and my son hasn't got a clue who Hank Marvin is!· The minute a robber gets a clue, why, the rest is easy.· And you can't develop a prototype system because the users haven't got a clue what they want.· What kinds of things did they do to the box to get clues about its contents? 2.

► give

· Beatrice's column of 11 February 1915 gives fascinating clues to their complex relationship.· If only he would give me a tiny clue!· Location inserts potentially give the strongest visual clues to programme content.· This gives your brain a clue about the direction from which it comes.· Does the citation give any external clues about the reliability of the document? 2.· A careful history may give a clue as to the origin.· Very occasionally there is a document that gives us a clue.· He gave no clue Sunday night about which option he would choose, though he asked his followers for financial support.

► hold

· Further enquiry into Pardy's activities might well hold the clue to the truth.· They do not believe you; they think that you are holding back some secret clue that would make it all plain.· Even when not evident it is always worth looking for, since it may hold the clue to the whole case.· Detectives believe they may hold a vital clue to the killer.· And police believe this stolen Golf left at the scene may hold some clues.· Old photographs can also hold valuable clues.

► leave

· Had I left some clue behind, a stray sock not his, an unfamiliar scent on the pillow?· Have you left a clue or have you covered your tracks?· He covered her over and ran the torch around the dirt, checking that he had not left any incriminating clues.· He leaves clues all over the place.· The man got away but he may have left a vital clue.· Marx himself did, however, leave some basic clues as to how we might achieve this kind of understanding of the state.· Too much blood, too much risk of leaving a clue.· Fortunately these approaches create difficulties for the faker and also leave clues for the scientific investigator.

► provide

· These could provide vital clues to climate change.· In the human case, language provides an additional clue:, as well as behaviour and brain structure.· Even if he did not allow himself to betray his secret directly he might let slip something that would provide a clue.· This time, it quickly provided the clues to the Clippers' loss.· It will provide you with a clue to which country and city you are currently in.· Genetic research may provide clues to overweight.· The letters provide a clue to the answers.· Here, anatomy provides an intriguing clue.

► search

· The police have been searching the site for clues, and talking to eye witnesses.· Instead, I searched everywhere for external clues to my feelings.· At 72 and in poor health, he suffered a heart attack while police officers were still searching for clues.· Without records, investigators are interviewing workers and searching for physical clues to what happened.· To prevent some one getting murdered, hand around and follow them. Search every room for clues.· Bewildered and uneasy, she searches the past for clues.· She regularly tramped remote areas searching for clues.· Police, forensic and bomb squad officers are still searching for clues to the cause of that blast.

► yield

· And interviews with Rachel's three-year-old son Alex have yet to yield any clues.· A carefully performed neurologic examination may, of course, also yield helpful clues.· The hood has been sent for forensic examination and it is hoped it will yield important clues.

PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► not have a clue (where/why/how etc)

After nine years of marriage to her I did not have a clue myself.