1
a
: a signal (such as a word, phrase, or bit of stage business) to a performer to begin a specific speech or action
That last line is your cue to exit the stage.
b
: something serving a comparable purpose : hint
I'll take that yawn as my cue to leave.
2
: a feature indicating the nature of something perceived
The expressions on people's faces give us visual cues about their feelings.
3
archaic
: the part one has to perform in or as if in a play
cued; cuing or cueing
1
: to give a cue to : prompt
cued the band to begin
2
: to insert into a continuous performance
cue in sound effects
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
cued; cuing or cueing
Synonyms
Noun (2)
Noun (3)
Examples of cue in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024
Ken Conrad has enraptured us with one of his many stories — either about what he’s done or who he’s met or where his voice has taken him — when his boss gives him a familiar cue.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 3 Apr. 2024
Drew called them back to steer those spot-on musical cues a little further from the spot.
—Eric Grode, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2024
Companies that make pre-hung, ready-to-install doors that masquerade as bookcases and pool cue racks say that business started booming at the height of the pandemic in 2020, when Americans holed up at home dove into renovation projects.
—Jane Margolies, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2024
When winter and early spring rains come to the Southland, the San Gabriel Mountains above L.A. get plastered with powder (cue incredible vistas).
—Michael Charboneau, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Alas, for her, children who miss out on free play are worse at taking risks, reading social cues, making friends, and resolving conflicts.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
Anderson and her instructors provide no verbal instruction and usually encourage their students to follow along with visual cues, vibes, and music.
—Dominique Fluker, Essence, 27 Mar. 2024
The majority of the employees LinkedIn surveyed recognized that professionals who joined the workforce during the pandemic lack communication and networking skills, as well as the informal cues that traditionally influence office behavior.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Europe, 21 Mar. 2024
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 27 Mar. 2024
But many parents simply use the main YouTube app to cue up content for their kids, relying on eyeballing video titles, listings, and thumbnail images to judge what is suitable.
—Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024
Her costars Greg Germann, Peter MacNicol and Gil Bellows then emerged from the bathroom stalls, cueing up one of the show's famous fantasy dance numbers, led by Flockhart, as the group made their way to the center of Los Angeles' Peacock Theater's stage to present an award.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 24 Jan. 2024
The team already knew that retinoic acid can cue the gene circuitry to construct the hindbrain in complex species.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 22 Feb. 2024
Moreover, cueing during this phase prolonged the wave and increased the power of associated spindles.
—Ingrid Wickelgren, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024
Its beyond line-of-sight capability will also offer broad situational awareness of the western Pacific as well as cueing for space and terrestrial sensors tracking hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, enemy aircraft, and ships.
—Eric Tegler, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
By 1981 fractures had formed in Boney M and Farrell split following a fall-out with Farian, cueing up another soon-to-be-familiar trope in the producer’s modus operandi: replacing the non-singing lead singer with a fresh face, in this case singer Reggie Tsiboe.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 23 Jan. 2024
February, which marks Black History Month, is the perfect time to cue up movies that explore and honor moments both large and small, joyous and heart-wrenching, from modern Black history.
—Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 10 Feb. 2024
Noun
Partner’s cue bid of five clubs is a control-showing try for slam.
—Frank Stewart, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024
Ken Conrad has enraptured us with one of his many stories — either about what he’s done or who he’s met or where his voice has taken him — when his boss gives him a familiar cue.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 3 Apr. 2024
Drew called them back to steer those spot-on musical cues a little further from the spot.
—Eric Grode, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2024
Companies that make pre-hung, ready-to-install doors that masquerade as bookcases and pool cue racks say that business started booming at the height of the pandemic in 2020, when Americans holed up at home dove into renovation projects.
—Jane Margolies, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2024
When winter and early spring rains come to the Southland, the San Gabriel Mountains above L.A. get plastered with powder (cue incredible vistas).
—Michael Charboneau, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Alas, for her, children who miss out on free play are worse at taking risks, reading social cues, making friends, and resolving conflicts.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
Anderson and her instructors provide no verbal instruction and usually encourage their students to follow along with visual cues, vibes, and music.
—Dominique Fluker, Essence, 27 Mar. 2024
The majority of the employees LinkedIn surveyed recognized that professionals who joined the workforce during the pandemic lack communication and networking skills, as well as the informal cues that traditionally influence office behavior.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Europe, 21 Mar. 2024
Verb
That’s when audio content started to evolve rapidly, as smartphones gave more people the ability to cue up thousands of hours of music, podcasts and audio books.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 27 Mar. 2024
But many parents simply use the main YouTube app to cue up content for their kids, relying on eyeballing video titles, listings, and thumbnail images to judge what is suitable.
—Kate Knibbs, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024
Her costars Greg Germann, Peter MacNicol and Gil Bellows then emerged from the bathroom stalls, cueing up one of the show's famous fantasy dance numbers, led by Flockhart, as the group made their way to the center of Los Angeles' Peacock Theater's stage to present an award.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 24 Jan. 2024
The team already knew that retinoic acid can cue the gene circuitry to construct the hindbrain in complex species.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 22 Feb. 2024
Moreover, cueing during this phase prolonged the wave and increased the power of associated spindles.
—Ingrid Wickelgren, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024
Its beyond line-of-sight capability will also offer broad situational awareness of the western Pacific as well as cueing for space and terrestrial sensors tracking hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, enemy aircraft, and ships.
—Eric Tegler, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
By 1981 fractures had formed in Boney M and Farrell split following a fall-out with Farian, cueing up another soon-to-be-familiar trope in the producer’s modus operandi: replacing the non-singing lead singer with a fresh face, in this case singer Reggie Tsiboe.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 23 Jan. 2024
February, which marks Black History Month, is the perfect time to cue up movies that explore and honor moments both large and small, joyous and heart-wrenching, from modern Black history.
—Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 10 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near cue
Cite this Entry
“Cue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cue. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cue
2 of 3 verb
cued; cuing
: to give a cue to
cue
3 of 3 noun1
: a tapering rod used in playing billiards or pool
Etymology
Noun
probably from q or qu, abbreviations for Latin quando "when," formerly used in actors' copies of scripts of plays
Noun
from French queue "tail, a line of people," from early French cue, coe "tail," from Latin cauda "tail" — related to coward, queue, coda see Word History at coward, queue
Medical Definition
cue
noun
: a minor stimulus acting as an indication of the nature of the perceived object or situation
foreshortened lines in the picture are cues to depth perception
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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