clout

Meaning

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.

Synonyms

hit

strike

influence

pull

bash

biff

smack

blow

punch

👊

slap

belt

bang

rag

knock

cuff

slug

bump

leverage

wallop

whack

smite

patch

clobber

beat

clout nail

poke

sway

power

lick

hobnail

impinge

impingement

jab

kill

🔪🩸👤

knockdown

lam

larrup

mark

maul

mend

mint

nail

pad

percussion

play

racket

ram

🐏

rap

shock

⚡

shoot

shroud

sitting duck

slam

slat

smash

spat

stamp out

stripe

support

swab

swat

swing

swob

tan

tatter

thrash

throw

thrust

thump

thwack

top

🔝

washer

weighting

whip

whomp

whop

worst

piece of cloth

dishclout

assertiveness

stroke

weight

large-headed nail

thump out

center of a target

carrier ring

filler ring

joint-packing

insertion ring

insert ring

packing collar

annular packing

filling-in ring

cushion ring

sliding plate ring

action

lead nail

ascendance

assault

attack

👊

authority

backing

bandage

bat

🦇

beat out

bop

buffet

bull’s-eye

butt

campaign

carom

clack

clump

concussion

control

cudgel

defeat

dish-cloth

drive

dump

empire

fisticuff

flap

gasket

grommet

Pronounced as (IPA)

/klaʊt/

Etymology

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.