• n. 線索；（故事等的）情節(jié)
• vt. 為…提供線索；為…提供情況

來自clew 的拼寫變體，來自PIE*glei,黏，聚集成塊，詞源同clay,cling.原指球團，線團。線 索詞義來自古希臘神話英雄Theseus 在迷宮中殺為非做歹的神牛的故事，因迷宮難行，克里 特公主給了Theseus 一個線團，以便他完成使命后原路返回，因此該詞就有了線索之義。

clue

clue: [15] Clue is a variant spelling of the now obsolete clew ‘ball of thread’, and its current application to ‘that which helps to solve a problem’, which originated in the early 17th century, is based on the notion of using (like Theseus in the Minotaur’s labyrinth) a ball of thread to show one the way out of an intricate maze one has entered. Clew itself goes back to Old English cliwan or cleowan, which may be related to claw.
=> claw

clue (n.)

1590s, spelling variant of clew "a ball of thread or yarn," in this sense with reference to the one Theseus used as a guide out of the Labyrinth. The purely figurative sense of "that which points the way" is from 1620s. As something which a bewildered person does not have, by 1948.

clue (v.)

"to inform someone of the important facts," usually with in, 1934, from clue (n.). Related: Clued; cluing. Earlier in now-obsolete sense of "follow or track by clues" (1660s). In nautical use, "to haul up (a sail) by means of the clue-lines," from clue (n.) in the "wound ball of yarn" sense.

1. The vital clue to the killer's identity was his nickname, Peanuts.

查明殺手身份的重要線索是他的外號叫“花生”.

來自柯林斯例句

2. That was the clue which clinched it for us.

就是那個線索幫我們最終解決了問題。

來自柯林斯例句

3. I hadn't a clue to the meaning of "activism"

我根本不明白activism的意思。

來自柯林斯例句

4. Diet may hold the clue to the causes of migraine.

從飲食之中可能得知偏頭疼的一些原因.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

5. The police followed home the clue and finally caught the culprit.

警察根據(jù)線索追根到底,終于抓住了這個罪犯.

來自《現(xiàn)代漢英綜合大詞典》