cue

UK: /ˈkjuː/ US: /kju/ ,(kyo̅o̅)

Inflections of 'cue' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

cues

v 3rd person singular

cuing

v pres p

cueing

v pres p

cued

v past

cued

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

cue¹ /kyu/   n., v., cued, cu•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. Show Business anything said or done, on or off stage, followed by a specified speech or action:
   The gunshot is your cue to enter.
2. anything that serves as a signal about what to do or say:
   When he started to talk about the finances, that was our cue to get up quietly and leave.

v. 

3. Show Business to give a cue to;
   prompt: [~ + object + to + verb]
   The announcer cued the audience to applaud.
   [~ + object]
   She cued me with a wink and we quietly left the lecture.
4. Sound Reproduction, Music and Dance to search for and reach (a track on a recording):
   [~ + object] The disc jockey cued the next song and waited to play it.
5. Idioms cue in, [~ + object + in] [Informal.] to give information, news, etc., to;
   inform:
   We cued him in on the plans.

Idioms

6. on cue, [uncountable] occurring or happening when or as if expected:
   We were talking about lateness when, right on cue, my assistant walked in fifteen minutes late.

cue² /kyu/   n., v., cued, cu•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. Games a long, narrow wooden rod, tipped with leather, used to strike the ball in pool, billiards, etc.
2. Games a stick used to propel the disks in shuffleboard.
3. queue (defs. 1, 2).

v. [~ + object]

4. Games to strike with a cue.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cue¹  (kyo̅o̅), n., v., cued, cu•ing. 
n. 

1. Show Business anything said or done, on or off stage, that is followed by a specific line or action:
   An off-stage door slam was his cue to enter.
2. anything that excites to action;
   stimulus.
3. a hint;
   intimation;
   guiding suggestion.
4. the part a person is to play;
   a prescribed or necessary course of action.
5. Psychology a sensory signal used to identify experiences, facilitate memory, or organize responses.
6. [Archaic.] frame of mind;
   mood.
7. Idioms miss a cue:
   • Show Business to fail to respond to a cue.
   • Informal Terms to miss the point:
     You could tell by his expression that he had missed a cue.

v.t. 

8. Show Business to provide with a cue or indication;
   give a cue to;
   prompt:
   Will you cue me on my lines?
9. Show Business to insert, or direct to come in, in a specific place in a musical or dramatic performance (usually fol. by in or into):
   to cue in a lighting effect.
10. Sound Reproduction, Music and Dance to search for and reach (a specific track on a recording) (sometimes fol. by up).
11. Idioms cue (someone) in, [Informal.] to inform;
    give instructions, information, news, etc., to:
    Cue him in on the plans for the dance.

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

Synonyms

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

cue²  (kyo̅o̅), n., v., cued, cu•ing. 
n. 

1. Games a long, tapering rod, tipped with a soft leather pad, used to strike the ball in billiards, pool, etc.
2. Games a long, usually wooden stick with a concave head, used to propel the disks in shuffleboard.
3. a queue of hair.
4. a queue or file, as of persons awaiting their turn.

v.t. 

5. to tie into a queue.
6. Games to strike with a cue.

• Latin cōda, earlier cauda tail; compare coward, queue
• French queue tail, Old French coue
• 1725–35

cue³  (kyo̅o̅), n. 

1. the letter
   Q, q.

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

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

cue / kjuː/ noun

1. on cue ⇒ (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
2. at the right moment
3. a signal or reminder to do something

verb (cues, cueing, cued)

1. (transitive) to give a cue or cues to (an actor)
2. usually followed by in or into: to signal (to something or somebody) at a specific moment in a musical or dramatic performance

Etymology: 16th Century: probably from name of the letter q, used in an actor's script to represent Latin quando when

cue / kjuː/ noun

1. 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. 
   a variant spelling of queue

verb (cues, cueing, cued)

1. to drive (a ball) with a cue

Etymology: 18th Century: variant of queue