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# cue

noun (a cue, cues); verb (cue, cues, cued, cueing/cuing)

«cue» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A signal, word or action that tells someone it is time to do something, especially an actor to speak or come on stage. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#m1)
2. A hint that helps you understand or remember something: «context cues», «picture cues». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#m2)
3. A long thin stick used to hit the ball in snooker, pool and billiards. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#m3)
4. (verb) To give someone a signal to start: «Cue the music!» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#m4)
5. (verb) To get a song or video ready at the right point to play. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#m5)

### In the lessons

In school plays, actors wait for their cue. In reading lessons teachers talk about «picture cues» and «context cues» to work out a hard word. In everyday talk «on cue» means at exactly the right moment, and «take your cue from someone» means copy what they do. Phrases: «on cue», «right on cue», «miss your cue», «take a cue from», «cue the music», «pool cue».

### Examples

- When the bell rang, that was our cue to line up. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#x1)
- The actor missed his cue and came on late. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#x2)
- Right on cue, the rain started as we left. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#x3)
- Use the picture cues to guess the word. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#x4)
- He chalked the end of his cue before taking the shot. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#x5)
- Cue the music! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#x6)
- Take your cue from the teacher and stay calm in the fire drill. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#x7)
- She cued up her favourite song. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/#x8)

### Note

Homophone: «queue» (a line of people) sounds exactly the same — «wait in the queue», but «wait for your cue». «Cue» is also the name of the letter Q sound. Past: «cued»; -ing: «cueing» or «cuing».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «cue» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cue/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«cue» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/cue.html) on Mova free.