cues

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of cue.

   Stage managers give performers their cues throughout the show.

   The dog responds to several hand cues during each training session.

   Note

   One spelling gathers several nouns. Most often cues are signals: an actor's closing words that prompt the next speaker, the marker that starts a recording, a quiet hint. But cue is also the name of the letter Q, so cues can simply mean Qs. In an obsolete British usage, a cue was a farthing's worth of bread or beer, marked in the buttery books with a q for Latin quadrāns.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of cue.

   The conductor cues each section of the orchestra in turn.

   A small red light cues the host to begin speaking.

   Note

   The present-tense verb is spelled exactly like the plural noun, so only the sentence tells them apart: a conductor cues the strings, but the strings wait for their cues. The same form also covers the billiard player who cues the ball, anything that more broadly sparks a reaction, and a separate sense meaning to braid or twist.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2