clout

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clout¹

(klout)

n. Chiefly Midland US

A piece of cloth, especially a baby's diaper.

[Middle English, cloth patch, shred of clothing, probably from Old English clūt.]

clout²

(klout)

a. Influence; pull: "Doctors have banded together into large negotiating groups in efforts to increase their clout" (George Anders).

b. Power; muscle.

2. A blow, especially with the fist.

a. Baseball A long powerful hit.

b. Sports An archery target.

tr.v. clout·ed, clout·ing, clouts

To hit, especially with the fist.

[Middle English, back of the hand, slap, probably from clout, cloth patch, metal plate, fragment; see clout¹.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

clout

(klaʊt)

1. informal a blow with the hand or a hard object

2. power or influence, esp in politics

3. (Archery) archery

a. the target used in long-distance shooting

b. the centre of this target

c. a shot that hits the centre

4. (Building) Also called: clout nail a short flat-headed nail used esp for attaching sheet metal to wood

5. dialect

a. a piece of cloth: a dish clout.

b. a garment

c. a patch

vb (tr)

6. informal to give a hard blow to, esp with the hand

7. (Knitting & Sewing) to patch with a piece of cloth or leather

[Old English clūt piece of metal or cloth, clūtian to patch (C14: to strike with the hand); related to Dutch kluit a lump, and to clod]

ˈclouter n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

clout

(klaʊt)

n.

1. a blow, esp. with the hand.

2. influence; pull.

3. a long hit in baseball.

4. the mark or target shot at in archery, esp. in long-distance shooting.

5. Dial. a piece of cloth.

v.t.

6. to hit or cuff.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English clūt piece of cloth or metal, c. Middle Dutch, Middle Low German klūte, Old Norse klūtr]

clout′er, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	clout - a target used in archery target, mark - a reference point to shoot at; "his arrow hit the mark"
	2.	clout - special advantage or influence; "the chairman's nephew has a lot of pull" pull advantage, vantage - the quality of having a superior or more favorable position; "the experience gave him the advantage over me"
	3.	clout - a short nail with a flat head; used to attach sheet metal to wood clout nail nail - a thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener
	4.	clout - (boxing) a blow with the fist; "I gave him a clout on his nose" biff, punch, lick, poke, slug counterpunch, parry, counter - a return punch (especially by a boxer) knockout punch, KO punch, Sunday punch, haymaker - a hard punch that renders the opponent unable to continue boxing hook - a short swinging punch delivered from the side with the elbow bent jab - a quick short straight punch rabbit punch - a short chopping blow to the back of the neck sucker punch - an unexpected punch boxing, pugilism, fisticuffs - fighting with the fists blow - a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon; "a blow on the head"
Verb	1.	clout - strike hard, especially with the fist; "He clouted his attacker" strike - deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon; "The teacher struck the child"; "the opponent refused to strike"; "The boxer struck the attacker dead"

clout

(Informal)

verb

1. hit, strike, punch, deck (slang), slap, sock (slang), chin (slang), smack, thump, cuff, clobber (slang), wallop (informal), box, wham, lay one on (slang), skelp (dialect) The officer clouted him on the head.

noun

1. thump, blow, crack, punch, slap, sock (slang), cuff, wallop (informal), skelp (dialect) I was half tempted to give them a clout myself.

2. influence, power, standing, authority, pull, weight, bottom, prestige, mana (N.Z.) The two firms wield enormous clout in financial markets.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

clout

noun

1. A sudden sharp, powerful stroke:

bang, blow, crack, hit, lick, pound, slug, sock, swat, thwack, welt, whack, wham, whop.

Informal: bash, biff, bop, clip, wallop.

Slang: belt, conk, paste.

2. Informal. The power to produce an effect by indirect means:

influence, leverage, sway, weight.

Slang: pull.

3. Informal. Effective means of influencing, compelling, or punishing:

force, power, weight.

Informal: muscle.

verb

To deliver a powerful blow to suddenly and sharply:

bash, catch, hit, knock, pop, slam, slog, slug, smash, smite, sock, strike, swat, thwack, whack, wham, whop.

Informal: biff, bop, clip, wallop.

Slang: belt, conk, paste.

Idioms: let someone have it, sock it to someone.

Translations

iskulyödälyöntiprikkarätti

empire

ascendente colpetto sulla testa colpire con un pugno pugno straccio

brok doek doelwit fragment invloed

затрещина удар

clout

¹ [klaʊt]

A. N

1. (= blow) → tortazo m

2. (= influence, power) → influencia f, peso m, palanca f (LAm)

B. VT → dar un tortazo a

clout

² [klaʊt] N ne'er cast a clout till May be out → hasta el cuarenta de mayo no te quites el sayo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

clout

[ˈklaʊt]

(= blow) → claque f

(= influence) → pouvoir m

vt → flanquer une claque à

clout

(inf: = blow) → Schlag m; to give somebody a clout → jdm eine runterhauen (inf); to give something a clout → auf etw (acc) → schlagen or hauen (inf); to give somebody a clout round the ears → jdm eine Ohrfeige geben (inf); to give oneself a clout on the knee, to give one’s knee a clout → sich (dat) → aufs Knie hauen (inf); (against door etc) → sich (dat) → das Knie (an)stoßen or anschlagen

(political, industrial) → Schlagkraft f

vt (inf) → schlagen, hauen (inf); to clout somebody one → jdm eine runterhauen (inf) → or eins verpassen (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

clout

[klaʊt]

1. n (blow) → ceffone m (fig) (power, influence) → influenza

2. vt → colpire

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

In it Spenser sings of his fair lost lady Rosalind, and he himself appears under the name of Colin Clout. The name is taken, as you will remember, from John Skelton's poem.

In a poem called Colin Clout's come home again, which Spenser wrote a few years later, he tells in his own poetic way of these meetings and talks, and of how Raleigh persuaded him to go to England, there to publish his poem.

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When a new-hatched savage running wild about his native woodlands in a grass clout, followed by the nibbling goats, as if he were a green sapling; even then, in Queequeg's ambitious soul, lurked a strong desire to see something more of Christendom than a specimen whaler or two.

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Six arrows were within the clout, four within the black, and only two smote the outer ring; so that when the last arrow sped and struck the target, all the people shouted aloud, for it was noble shooting.

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The next moment he received a clout alongside the head that knocked him over on his side.

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That worthy sachem landed in princely state, arrayed in a bright blue blanket and red breech clout, with an extra quantity of paint and feathers, attended by a train of half-naked warriors and nobles.

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She soon removed the clout from the head of Goody Brown, and then fastening on her hair with one hand, with the other she caused another bloody stream to issue forth from the nostrils of the enemy.

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I did write them - in the garret - but they by no means helped her to get on with her work, for when I finished a chapter I bounded downstairs to read it to her, and so short were the chapters, so ready was the pen, that I was back with new manuscript before another clout had been added to the rug.

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Still we live meanly, like ants; though the fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men; like pygmies we fight with cranes; it is error upon error, and clout upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and evitable wretchedness.

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At last, with a desperate effort I threw my feet to the floor and passing between the two rows of clouted faces and the two bodies that lay nearest the door, I escaped from the infernal place and ran to the office.

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In the end, disgusted with so unreasonable a puppy, Lamai forgot his love in his boyish savageness, clouted Jerry over the head, right side and left, and tied him as few whites men's dogs have ever been tied.

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He had seen, spread on the neighboring heath, the human remains which had stained with clouted blood the scattered stones among the flowering broom.

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