clout

Signification

Noun

1. (informal) Influence or effectiveness, especially political.
2. (informal) A blow with the hand.
3. (informal) A home run.
4. The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.
5. A swaddling cloth.
6. A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag.
7. An iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing; a washer.
8. A clout nail.
9. (obsolete) A piece; a fragment.

Verb

1. To hit (someone or something), especially with the fist.
2. To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage, patch, or mend with a clout.
3. To stud with nails, as a timber, or a boot sole.
4. To guard with an iron plate, as an axletree.
5. To join or patch clumsily.

Verb

Dated form of clot.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/klaʊt/

Étymologie

From Middle English clout, from Old English clūt, from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gelewdos, from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to ball up, amass”). The sense “influence, especially political” originated in the dialect of Chicago, but has become widespread.
cognates and related terms
Cognate with Old Norse klútr (“kerchief”), Swedish klut, Danish klud, Middle High German klōz (“lump”), whence German Kloß, and dialect Russian глуда (gluda). See also cleat.