clue, clew (klo)

[ Dan. nögle, neut., clue), a ball, a ball of thread; cf. L. gluere, draw together, Skt. glaus, a ball; perhaps akin to L. glomus, a clue, a ball of thread (see glomerate ), and globus, a ball (see globe ). The naut. senses are prob. of D. origin.] 1. A ball or skein of thread or yarn. Steal out, all alone, to the kiln, and, darkling, throw into the pot a clue of blue yarn. Burns , Halloween, Notes. climb. clumber (klum'ber), n. A kind of spaniel valued as a retriever. clumpl (klump), n. [ G. klump, klumpe, klumpen ) = Dan. Sw. klump, a clump, lump, etc. (prob. = Icel. klumba, a imilated klubba, a club, > E. club1); cf. Dan. klimp, a clod, = Sw. klimp, a clod, lump, dumpling, Sw. klamp, a clump. The resemblance of clump to lump is accidental, and its connection with clamp1, clam1, clumse, etc., remote and uncertain.] 1. A thick, short, unformed piece of wood or other solid substance; a shapele ma . 2. A cluster; a small, closely osely group: used especially of trees or shrubs, but sometimes of other things and of persons. He could number the fields in every direction, and could tell how many trees there were in the most distant clump. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, p. 134. I observed many times daily for more than a fortnight some large clumps of heartsease growing in my garden, before I saw a single humble-bee at work. Darwin , Cro and Self Fertilisation, p. 124. form of a ball; thread in general. He [These us] formed that ingenious device of his clue , which led directly through all the windings of the laby Bacon , Political Fables, x. It is decreed That I must die with her; our clue of life Was spun together. rinth. Mas singer, Virgin-Martyr, iv. 3. spiral curl of hair pre ed flat between the disk- shaped ends of a pair of crimping-tongs, so as to lie close to the head.-5. A bivalve mollusk of the family Mactrida , Lutraria elliptic a . It has a broad flattish shell about 5 inches long and 3 inches high. It lives chiefly in muddy estuaries, buried a foot or two deep. In mech ., a clump klump klompe, a wooden shoe, clog, a var. form of the noun. Cf. clamp4.] To walk heavily and clumsily. clump-block (klump'blok), n. strongly made block with a thick sheave and a large opening. See cut under block. clump-boot (klump'böt), -boot (klump'böt), n. [