clews

Noun

clew (plural clews)

1. (obsolete) A roughly spherical mass or body.
   • If the whole troupe be diuided into many clewes, or round bunches, you need not then doubt but that there are many kings.c. 1600, Charles Estienne and Jean Liebault, tr. Richard Surflet, Maison Rustique, or, The Countrie Farme
2. (archaic) A ball of thread or yarn.
   • [O]nely ſinne
     And helliſh obſtinacie tye thy tongue
     That truth ſhould be ſuſpected, ſpeake, iſ't ſo?
     If it be ſo, you haue wound a goodly clewe:
     If it be not, forſweare't how ere I charge thee,
     As heauen ſhall work in me for thine auaile
     To tell me truelie.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
3. Yarn or thread as used to guide one's way through a maze or labyrinth; a guide, a clue.
4. The lower corner(s) of a sail to which a sheet is attached for trimming the sail (adjusting its position relative to the wind); the metal loop or cringle in the corner of the sail, to which the sheet is attached. (on a triangular sail) The trailing corner relative to the wind direction.
   • 'Mid the rattle of blocks and the tramp of the crew,
     Hisses the rain of the rushing squall;
     The sails are aback from clew to clew,
     And now is the moment for "MAINSAIL, HAUL!"1858, Walter Mitchell, Tacking Ship Off Shore
5. (in plural) The sheets so attached to a sail.
   • The canvas running up in a proud sweep,
     Wind-wrinkled at the clews, and white like lint,1913, John Masefield, Dauber
6. (in plural) The cords suspending a hammock.
   • He taught us how to attach the clews to the ends of the hammock and then lash it between jack stays.2000, Ralph W Danklefsen, The Navy I Remember, Xlibris, page 21

See all 8 meanings of clew