cue (redirected from taking cue from)

cue someone in 

1. Lit. to give someone a cue; to indicate to someone that the time has come. Now, cue the orchestra director in. All right, cue in the announcer.

2. Fig. to tell someone what is going on. (Almost the same as clue someone in (on something).) I want to know what's going on. Cue me in. Cue in the general about the troop movement.

take one's cue from someone

to use someone else's behavior or reactions as a guide to one's own. (From the theatrical cue as a signal to speak, etc.) If you don't know which spoons to use at the dinner, just take your cue from John. The other children took their cue from Tommy and ignored the new boy.

See also: take

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(right) on cue

as if planned to happen exactly at that moment We were traveling up a narrow river in East Africa when, right on cue, a hippopotamus thrust its head out of the water.

take your cue from somebody/something also take a cue from somebody/something

to be strongly influenced by someone or something else The national assembly takes its cue from the president and seldom challenges her policies. His new tunes take their cues from the music of Africa and Cuba.

See also: take