CLOUT

punch, clout, poke, lick, biff, slug

(noun) (boxing) a blow with the fist; “I gave him a clout on his nose”

pull, clout

(noun) special advantage or influence; “the chairman’s nephew has a lot of pull”

clout

(noun) a target used in archery

clout

(verb) strike hard, especially with the fist; “He clouted his attacker”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

clout (countable and uncountable, plural clouts)

Influence or effectiveness, especially political.

(regional, informal) A blow with the hand.

(baseball, informal) A home run.

(archery) The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.

(regional, dated) A swaddling cloth.

(archaic) A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag.

(archaic) An iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing; a washer.

(obsolete) A piece; a fragment.

Verb

clout (third-person singular simple present clouts, present participle clouting, simple past and past participle clouted)

To hit, especially with the fist.

To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage, patch, or mend with a clout.

To stud with nails, as a timber, or a boot sole.

To guard with an iron plate, as an axletree.

To join or patch clumsily.

Etymology 2

Verb

clout (third-person singular simple present clouts, present participle clouting, simple past and past participle clouted)

Dated form of clot.

Source: Wiktionary


Clout, n. Etym: [AS. clut a little cloth, piece of metal; cf. Sw. klut, Icel. klutr a kerchief, or W. clwt a clout, Gael. clud.]

1. A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag. His garments, nought but many ragged clouts, With thorns together pinned and patched was. Spenser. A clout upon that head where late the diadem stood. Shak.

2. A swadding cloth.

3. A piece; a fragment. [Obs.] Chaucer.

4. The center of the butt at which archers shoot; -- probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head. A'must shoot nearer or he'll ne'er hit the clout. Shak.

5. An iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing; a washer.

6. A blow with the hand. [Low] Clout nail, a kind of wrought-iron nail heaving a large flat head; -- used for fastening clouts to axletrees, plowshares, etc., also for studding timber, and for various purposes.

Clout, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Clouted; p. pr. & vb. n. Clouting.] Etym: [OE. clutien. clouten, to patch. See Clout, n.]

1. To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage; patch, or mend, with a clout. And old shoes and clouted upon their feet. Josh. ix. 5. Paul, yea, and Peter, too, had more skill in . . . clouting an old tent than to teach lawyers. Latimer.

2. To join or patch clumsily. If fond Bavius vent his clouted song. P. Fletcher

3. To quard with an iron plate, as an axletree.

4. To give a blow to; to strike. [Low] The . . . queen of Spain took off one of her chopines and clouted Olivarez about the noddle with it. Howell.

5. To stud with nails, as a timber, or a boot sole. Clouted cream, clotted cream, i. e., cream obtained by warming new milk. A. Philips.

Note: "Clouted brogues" in Shakespeare and "clouted shoon" in Milton have been understood by some to mean shoes armed with nails; by others, patched shoes.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

20 April 2024

MULTIPHASE

(adjective) of an electrical system that uses or generates two or more alternating voltages of the same frequency but differing in phase angle


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

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