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.

Concepts

clout

hit

influence

strike

pull

bash

biff

punch

smack

blow

slap

belt

slug

cuff

bump

rag

bang

knock

leverage

clobber

wallop

whack

patch

power

lick

poke

clout nail

smite

beat

sway

action

empire

attack

assault

tan

thwack

whomp

bop

clump

lam

thump

mend

bandage

stripe

dish-cloth

dishclout

bull’s-eye

center of a target

slam

buffet

clack

cudgel

impinge

larrup

maul

rap

shroud

slat

swat

thrash

swab

swob

flap

spat

annular packing

carrier ring

cushion ring

dump

filler ring

filling-in ring

gasket

grommet

insert ring

insertion ring

joint-packing

packing collar

pad

sliding plate ring

washer

hobnail

large-headed nail

lead nail

assertiveness

authority

campaign

concussion

impingement

jab

knockdown

percussion

shock

smash

stroke

throw

thrust

bat

beat out

carom

defeat

drive

kill

mint

nail

play

racket

ram

shoot

stamp out

swing

thump out

top

whip

whop

worst

butt

mark

sitting duck

weight

weighting

ascendance

piece of cloth

tatter

backing

support

fisticuff

control

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.