Which of the following is a way of using context clues to uncover a word's meaning? a. use an etymological dictionary to uncover the history of the word's development. b. look for idioms, which may provide a nonliteral meaning of the word in question. c. investigate how an author uses language to persuade or inform readers. d. look to see if the author provides an example to illustrate the word's meaning

the answer choice is D.

Look to see if the author provides an example to illustrate the word's meaning 

with context clues you must find e hints that an author gives to help to define a difficult or unusual word. The clue may appear within the same sentence as the word to which it refers, or it may follow in a preceding sentence. 

sometimes you can use context clues to help illustrate the meaning or 

There is the : Definition/Explanation Clues. Sometimes a word's or phrase's meaning is explained immediately after its use. ...

Restatement/Synonym Clues. Sometimes a hard word or phrase is said in a simple way. ...