[klaʊt], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a heavy blow with the hand or a hard object
(e.g: a clout round the ear)

- influence or power, especially in politics or business
(e.g: I knew she carried a lot of clout)

- a piece of cloth or article of clothing

- a target twelve times the usual size, placed flat on the ground with a flag marking its centre and used in long-distance shooting



Phrases:
- ne'er cast a clout till May be out

Origin:
Old English clūt (in the sense ‘a patch or metal plate’); related to Dutch kluit ‘lump, clod’, also to cleat and clot. The shift of sense to ‘heavy blow’, which dates from late Middle English, is difficult to explain; possibly the change occurred first in the verb (from ‘put a patch on’ to ‘hit hard’)

[klaʊt], (Verb)

Definitions:
- hit (someone or something) hard
(e.g: I clouted him round the head)

- mend with a patch
(e.g: he helps the women clout their pans)


Phrases:
- ne'er cast a clout till May be out

Origin:
Old English clūt (in the sense ‘a patch or metal plate’); related to Dutch kluit ‘lump, clod’, also to cleat and clot. The shift of sense to ‘heavy blow’, which dates from late Middle English, is difficult to explain; possibly the change occurred first in the verb (from ‘put a patch on’ to ‘hit hard’)