Adjacent Words

Cue definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CUE, n. [L.]
1. The tail; the end of a thing; as the long curl of a wig, or a long roll of hair.
2. The last words of a speech, which a player, who is to answer, catches and regards as an intimation to begin. A hint given to an actor on the stage, what or when to speak.
3. A hint; an intimation; a short direction.
4. The part which any man is to play in his turn.
Were it my cue to fight.
5. Humor; turn or temper of mind. [Vulgar.]
6. A farthing, or farthings worth.
7. The straight rod, used in playing billiards.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech
2: evidence that helps to solve a problem [syn: clue, clew, cue]
3: a stimulus that provides information about what to do [syn: discriminative stimulus, cue]
4: sports implement consisting of a tapering rod used to strike a cue ball in pool or billiards [syn: cue, cue stick, pool cue, pool stick] v
1: assist (somebody acting or reciting) by suggesting the next words of something forgotten or imperfectly learned [syn: prompt, remind, cue]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English cu half a farthing (spelled form of q, abbreviation for Latin quadrans quarter of an as) Date: circa 1755 the letter q II. noun Etymology: probably from qu, abbreviation (used as a direction in actors' copies of plays) of Latin quando when Date: 1553 1. a. a signal (as a word, phrase, or bit of stage business) to a performer to begin a specific speech or action b. something serving a comparable purpose ; hint 2. a feature indicating the nature of something perceived 3. archaic the part one has to perform in or as if in a play 4. archaic mood, humor III. transitive verb (cued; cuing or cueing) Date: 1922 1. to give a cue to ; prompt 2. to insert into a continuous performance <cue in sound effects> IV. noun Etymology: French queue, literally, tail, from Old French cue, coe, queue, from Latin cauda Date: circa 1749 1. a. a leather-tipped tapering rod for striking the cue ball (as in billiards and pool) b. a long-handled instrument with a concave head for shoving disks in shuffleboard 2. queue 2 V. verb (cued; cuing or cueing) Date: circa 1784 transitive verb 1. queue 2. to strike with a cue intransitive verb 1. queue 2. to use a cue

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a the last words of an actor's speech serving as a signal to another actor to enter or speak. b a similar signal to a singer or player etc. 2 a a stimulus to perception etc. b a signal for action. c a hint on how to behave in particular circumstances. 3 a facility for or an instance of cueing audio equipment (see sense 2 of v.). --v.tr. (cues, cued, cueing or cuing) 1 give a cue to . 2 put (a piece of audio equipment, esp. a record-player or tape recorder) in readiness to play a particular part of the recorded material. Phrases and idioms: cue-bid Bridge an artificial bid to show a particular card etc. in the bidder's hand. cue in 1 insert a cue for. 2 give information to. on cue at the correct moment. take one's cue from follow the example or advice of. Etymology: 16th c.: orig. unkn. 2. n. & v. Billiards etc. --n. a long straight tapering rod for striking the ball. --v. (cues, cued, cueing or cuing) 1 tr. strike (a ball) with a cue. 2 intr. use a cue. Phrases and idioms: cue-ball the ball that is to be struck with the cue. Derivatives: cueist n. Etymology: var. of QUEUE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cue Cue (k[=u]), n. [ OF. coue, coe, F. queue, fr. L. coda, cauda, tail. Cf. Caudal, Coward, Queue.] 1. The tail; the end of a thing; especially, a tail-like twist of hair worn at the back of the head; a queue. 2. The last words of a play actor's speech, serving as an intimation for the next succeeding player to speak; any word or words which serve to remind a player to speak or to do something; a catchword. When my cue comes, call me, and I will answer. --Shak. 3. A hint or intimation. Give them [the servants] their cue to attend in two lines as he leaves the house. --Swift. 4. The part one has to perform in, or as in, a play. Were it my cueto fight, I should have known it Without a prompter. --Shak. 5. Humor; temper of mind. [Colloq.] --Dickens. 6. A straight tapering rod used to impel the balls in playing billiards.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cue Cue, v. t. To form into a cue; to braid; to twist.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cue Cue, n. [From q, an abbreviation for quadrans a farthing.] A small portion of bread or beer; the quantity bought with a farthing or half farthing. [Obs.] Note: The term was formerly current in the English universities, the letter q being the mark in the buttery books to denote such a portion. --Nares. Hast thou worn Gowns in the university, tossed logic, Sucked philosophy, eat cues? --Old Play.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cues, cueing, cued) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. In the theatre or in a musical performance, a performer's cue is something another performer says or does that is a signal for them to begin speaking, playing, or doing something. I had never known him miss a cue. N-COUNT: oft with poss 2. If one performer cues another, they say or do something which is a signal for the second performer to begin speaking, playing, or doing something. He read the scene, with Seaton cueing him. VERB: V n 3. If you say that something that happens is a cue for an action, you mean that people start doing that action when it happens. That was the cue for several months of intense bargaining... N-COUNT: oft N for n, N to-inf 4. A cue is a long, thin wooden stick that is used to hit the ball in games such as snooker, billiards, and pool. N-COUNT 5. If you say that something happened on cue or as if on cue, you mean that it happened just when it was expected to happen, or just at the right time. Kevin arrived right on cue to care for Harry... PHRASE 6. If you take your cue from someone or something, you do something similar in a particular situation. Taking his cue from his companion, he apologized for his earlier display of temper. PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR from n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Hint, suggestion, intimation, catchword, wink, nod. 2. Rod (in billiards).

Moby Thesaurus

actor, advice, agate, aide-memoire, alerting, antagonist, antihero, ball, baseball bat, bat, battledore, bauble, bit, bit part, blocks, book, braid, broad hint, brush, bun, cast, catchword, cauda, caudal appendage, caudation, caution, character, checkerboard, chessboard, chignon, club, clue, cockhorse, coil, continuity, cricket bat, cue word, dock, doll, doll carriage, evidence, fantail, fat part, feeder, flapper, frame, frame of mind, gentle hint, gesture, gewgaw, gimcrack, glimmer, glimmering, golf club, heart, heavy, hero, heroine, hint, hobbyhorse, hot lead, humor, implication, index, indication, ingenue, inkling, innuendo, insinuation, intimation, jack-in-the-box, jacks, jackstones, jackstraws, jogger, key, key word, kick, kickshaw, knickknack, knot, lead, lead role, leading lady, leading man, leading woman, libretto, lines, look, marble, marionette, memorandum, mig, mind, monition, mood, morale, nod, note, nudge, office, paper doll, part, passing word, person, personage, pick-up sticks, piece, pigtail, pinwheel, plait, playbook, plaything, pointer, prompt, prompter, prompting, protagonist, puppet, queue, racket, rag doll, rattail, remembrance, remembrancer, reminder, rocking horse, role, scenario, scene plot, scent, score, script, shooting script, side, sign, signal, soubrette, spirit, spirits, spoor, sport, state of mind, steelie, steer, straight part, stub, suggestion, supporting character, supporting role, suspicion, symptom, tail, tailpiece, taw, teetotum, telltale, temper, text, tickler, tip, tip-off, title role, tone, top, topknot, toy, toy soldier, trace, track, trinket, twist, vein, vestige, villain, walk-on, walking part, warning, whiff, whim-wham, whisper, wink