clew

Pluralclews

Formsclews, clewing, clewed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   The lower corner of a sail to which a sheet is attached for trimming, often reinforced with a metal loop or cringle.

   He attached the new sheet to the clew to adjust the sail's angle.

   On a triangular jib, the clew is the trailing corner that catches the wind.

   Note

   A sailor's word for the corner that does the work. The sheet is made fast here, so trimming a sail means hauling on its clew. "From clew to clew" spans a sail's whole foot, as in Walter Mitchell's "The sails are aback from clew to clew." The Atlantic Monthly in 1858 called the word Saxon. In the same piece it notes that the clew-garnet, the block fastened at the clew, is named for its pomegranate shape.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   Yarn or thread used to guide one's way through a maze or labyrinth; by extension, a guide or clue.

   Theseus followed the clew back through the twisting passages of the labyrinth.

   He left a clew of thread to mark the path through the dark caverns.

   Similarthread, clue

   Note

   Ariadne's thread is the hinge on which the whole word turns. The yarn that led Theseus out of the labyrinth became a figure for anything that guides a person through a confusing matter. Once that figure was everyday, no thread was meant at all, and the road led to the detective's clue. Writers who keep the image alive pair it with follow, unravel and maze.

3. 3
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To raise the lower corner or corners of a sail.

   Order the crew to clew the topsail at once.

   As the gale rose, the sailors clewed up to protect the rigging.

   Note

   Deck orders use this verb both with and without an object. You clew up the topsail, or the crew simply clews up. Either way, the lower corners are hauled toward the yard, which gathers the canvas before furling. The reverse is letting the clews down. James Hudson Taylor asks for exactly that in A Retrospect (1894), after the mainsail's corners had been drawn up to stop it flapping. Don't confuse this with winding into a ball.

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To roll or wind something into a ball.

   Spinners clew the fresh yarn for easier storage.

   She clewed the twine into a ball and tucked it away.

   Similarwind, roll, ball

   Oppositeunwind, unroll

5. 5
   nouncountableplural

   The sheets attached to the lower corners of a sail.

   She hauled in the clews as the wind shifted.

   Each clew ran back to a cleat near the helm.

   Similarsheet

   Note

   In the plural, the word shifts from the corner to the lines made fast there. The two meanings sit so close that context has to decide between them. In John Masefield's Dauber (1913), canvas "wind-wrinkled at the clews" could be read either way. When the distinction matters, say sheets for the lines and keep clew for the sail's lower corner.

6. 6
   nouncountableplural

   The cords that suspend a hammock.

   The sailor knotted the clews to the hooks on the beam.

   A worn clew can give way under a sleeper's weight.

   Note

   Shipboard bedding has its own rigging vocabulary. The clews are the fan of small cords at each end of a hammock, gathered to a ring by which the bed is slung. The word is used in the plural. The order of work is to attach the clews to the hammock first, then lash it off. Ralph W. Danklefsen describes lashing them between jack stays in The Navy I Remember (2000).

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