cue

to insert, or direct to come in, in a specific place in a musical or dramatic performance (usually followed by in or into ): to cue in a lighting effect.

to search for and reach (a specific track on a recording) (sometimes followed by up ).

00:10

Cue is one of our favorite verbs.

So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

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Idioms

10.

cue (someone) in, Informal. to inform; give instructions, information, news, etc., to: Cue him in on the plans for the dance.

11.

miss a cue,

to fail to respond to a cue.

Informal. to miss the point: You could tell by his expression that he had missed a cue.

Origin:
1545–55; spelled name of the letter q as an abbreviation (found in acting scripts) of Latin quandō when

Synonyms
1. signal. 3. sign, clue, key, tip, inkling.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun

a long, tapering rod, tipped with a soft leather pad, used to strike the ball in billiards, pool, etc.

a long, usually wooden stick with a concave head, used to propel the disks in shuffleboard.

a queue of hair.

a queue or file, as of persons awaiting their turn.

verb (used with object)

to tie into a queue.

to strike with a cue.

Origin:
1725–35; < French queue tail, Old French coue < Latin cōda, earlier cauda tail; cf. coward, queue

noun

the letter Q, q.

Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English cu; conventional adaptation in spelling of the letter name

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To cue

Collins

World English Dictionary

cue¹ (kjuː)

—n
1.	a. (in the theatre, films, music, etc) anything spoken or done that serves as a signal to an actor, musician, etc, to follow with specific lines or action
	b. on cue at the right moment
2.	a signal or reminder to do something
3.	psychol the part of any sensory pattern that is identified as the signal for a response
4.	the part, function, or action assigned to or expected of a person

—vb (usually foll by in or into) , cues, cueing, cued
5.	(tr) to give a cue or cues to (an actor)
6.	to signal (to something or somebody) at a specific moment in a musical or dramatic performance: to cue in a flourish of trumpets
7.	(tr) to give information or a reminder to (someone)
8.	(intr) to signal the commencement of filming, as with the word "Action!"

[C16: probably from name of the letter q, used in an actor's script to represent Latin quando when]

cue² (kjuː)

—n
1.	billiards, snooker a long tapered shaft with a leather tip, used to drive the balls
2.	hair caught at the back forming a tail or braid
3.	(US) a variant spelling of queue

—vb , cues, cueing, cued
4.	to drive (a ball) with a cue
5.	(tr) to twist or tie (the hair) into a cue

[C18: variant of queue]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

cue

"stage direction," 1553, from Q, used 16c., 17c. in plays to indicate actors' entrances, probably abbrev. of L. quando "when" or a similar word. The verb is 1928, from the noun.

cue

"billiard stick," 1749, var. of queue (q.v.). Cue ball first recorded 1881.

Example sentences

The fact that our brain actually processes something completely different when

a visual cue is added is interesting indeed.

As she waits for her final cue, she looks out into the audience and sees no

sign of her father.

Cue lots of clever headlines with green and gold in them.

Temperature is often a cue to enter or emerge from hibernation.

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Matching Quote

"Good marriages are built on respectful disagreement and back-and-forth cooperation. We learn to cue each other, fill in for each other, forgive each other's fumbles, celebrate small victories. We revel in the realization that we're working on something bigger than both of us, and that parenthood is not only incredibly challenging but also incredibly enriching."

-Susan Lapinski