clout

Meaning

Noun

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

Verb

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

Verb

Dated form of clot.

Synonyms

hit

influence

pull

strike

punch

👊

bash

slap

smack

blow

biff

bang

bump

cuff

belt

knock

slug

rag

power

beat

clout nail

sway

clobber

wallop

leverage

poke

lick

patch

smite

whack

dish-cloth

defeat

cudgel

bandage

control

concussion

clump

lam

beat out

backing

assault

clack

kill

🔪🩸👤

jab

carom

impingement

knockdown

campaign

larrup

impinge

hobnail

Translations

influence

Einfluss

Kopfnuss

lobo

pugno

✊

lap

influência

coup de poing

👊

Lappen

frapper

coup

cazzotto

👊

invloed

donner un coup

fuerza

Pronounced as (IPA)

/klaʊt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: clout

Inherited from Old English: clūt

Cognate with Old Norse: klútr

In summary

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