clout en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /klæɔt/ (Australia)
- audio North Carolina
- [klʌʊt] (Canada, General-American) Canadian raising
- /klaʊt/ (Canada, General-American)
- /klaʊt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /klæʊt/ (New-Zealand)
Etymology
From Middle English clout (“piece of cloth”), from Old English clūt (“piece of cloth, patch; metal plate”), from Proto-West Germanic *klūt, 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 (“clump”), and dialectal Russian глуда (gluda). See also cleat.
Meanings
-
(countable, informal, uncountable) Influence or effectiveness, especially political.
I'm that girl all alone in the crowd / 'Cause all of you's are followers and do it for the clout
2025, “Young”, performed by Little Simz:Rowan, like most teenagers on the internet, wasn’t after fame or money, though he made a decent amount — at one point $10,000 a month and more, he said. What Rowan wanted was clout. On the internet, clout is a social currency that can be used to obtain just about anything. Rack up enough while you’re young, and doors everywhere begin to open.
2019 November 29, Taylor Lorenz, “Here’s What’s Happening in the American Teenage Bedroom”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2021:[…]ethics officers themselves often complain that they can recommend but have little clout with which to create real change.
1986, Tony Alessandra, The New Art of Managing People, page 76:Having relinquished his clout in City Council to run for a place on the county board, and having lost stature by reason of his failure to win the presidency, Duffy was in no position to seek the party chairmanship for himself
1975, Len O'Connor, Clout--Mayor Daley and His City, page 74:But the rise of multiracialism is not all Kumbaya choruses and “postracial” identity. The N.A.A.C.P. criticized the census change, fearing that since so few in the black community are of fully African descent, mass attrition to a mixed-race option could threaten political clout and Federal financing.
2008 March 23, Peggy Orenstein, “Mixed Messenger”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 06 Nov 2020:The chopped mushrooms add depth to both the Waitrose and the Go-Go Vegan recipe, but what gives the latter some real clout on the flavour front is a teaspoon of Marmite.
2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2021:It's funny how they judge you when they see you made a change / I poured another four just to take away the pain / My friends weren't my friends, they was ^([sic]) looking for some clout / I had what they wanted so they always came around
2017, Kimetrius Foose (Lil Skies), Myron Goedhart, “Fake”, performed by Lil Skies:
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(countable, uncountable) A blow with the hand.
‘Such a clout on the ear as you gave me… But I soon taught you.’
1910, Katherine Mansfield, Frau Brenchenmacher Attends A Wedding:One of her goons gave him a clout on the ear.
1985, Brian Daley, Jinx on a Terran Inheritance, page 338:
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(countable, informal, uncountable) A home run.
'... allowed Boston to score all of its runs on homers, including a pair of clouts by Jacoby Ellsbury ...'
2011 August 17, Michael Vega, “Triple double”, in The Boston Globe, page C1:
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(countable, uncountable) The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.
A’ must shoot nearer or he’ll ne’er hit the clout.
c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:For kings are clouts that euery man ſhoots at, Our Crowne the pin that thouſands ſeeke to cleaue.
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iv:
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(countable, dated, regional, uncountable) A swaddling cloth, nappy, or loincloth.
If we find clean water and clean towels we leave them money, either in their basins, or in their shoes; but if we find no clean water in their houses, we wash our children in their pottage, milk, or beer, or whatever we find: for the sluts that have not such things fitting, we wash their faces and hands with a gilded child's clout, or else carry them to some river and duck them over head and ears.
1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 289:When a new-hatched savage running wild about his native woodlands in a grass clout, followed by the nibbling goats, as if he were a green sapling; even then, in Queequeg’s ambitious soul, lurked a strong desire to see something more of Christendom than a specimen whaler or two.
1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 12:
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(archaic, countable, uncountable) A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag.
His garment nought but many ragged clouts, / With thornes together pind and patched was, / The which his naked sides he wrapt abouts;
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 129:If I were mad, I ſhould forget my ſonne, / or madly thinke a babe of clowts were he; I am not mad: too well, too well I feele / The different plague of each clamitie.
c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 12, columns 1–2:[…] a clout upon that head Where late the diadem stood […]
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:We condol’d with each other, and observ’d how wretchedly we look’d, all naked, except a small Clout about our Middles […]
1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, page 74:The Byzantines, wrote Robert of Clari, hooted and jeered from the battlements, "and let down their clouts and showed them their backsides."
1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 33:
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(archaic, countable, uncountable) An iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing; a washer.
Clouts were thin and flat pieces of iron, used it appears to strengthen the box of the wheel; perhaps also for nailing on such other parts of the cart as were particularly exposed to wear.
1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 546:
- (countable, uncountable) A clout nail.
- (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A piece; a fragment.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| clouts | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
beclout · cloutless · car clout · ne'er cast a clout till May be out · clout list · clout-nail · dishclout · breech-clout · breechclout · clout goblin · clout chaser
Descendants
Translations (79)
nl stuk (piece, fragment) · enm clout (iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing) · es mamporro (informal: blow with the hand) · cs moc (influence, effectiveness) · de Kopfnuss (informal: blow with the hand) · fi prikka (iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing) · bg плесница (informal: blow with the hand) · ca mastegot (informal: blow with the hand) · fi vaikutusvalta (influence, effectiveness) · es valimiento (influence, effectiveness) · fi painoarvo (influence, effectiveness) · fr influence (influence, effectiveness) · enm clout (piece, fragment) · fi cloutti (influence, effectiveness) · ca influència (influence, effectiveness) · sq pelenë (swaddling cloth) · bg парче (piece, fragment) · ru уда́р (informal: blow with the hand) · cs rána (informal: blow with the hand) · fr coup (informal: blow with the hand) · nl rondel (iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing) · fi rätti (piece of cloth) · ru влия́ние (influence, effectiveness) · nl doek (piece of cloth) · io lanjo (swaddling cloth) · nl oorvijg (informal: blow with the hand) · sv slagkraft (influence, effectiveness) · de Gewicht (influence, effectiveness) · nl klap (informal: blow with the hand) · fi riepu (piece of cloth) · sh treska (informal: blow with the hand) · nl fragment (piece, fragment) · fi hitunen (piece, fragment) · ru вес (influence, effectiveness) · sh utjecaj (influence, effectiveness) · fi pilkka (archery: center of the butt) · sv smocka (informal: blow with the hand) · nl wikkel (swaddling cloth) · nl luier (swaddling cloth) · nl brok (piece, fragment) · sh uticaj (influence, effectiveness) · ga cíonán (informal: blow with the hand) · fi tälli (informal: blow with the hand) · ru затре́щина (informal: blow with the hand) · fi pilkku (archery: center of the butt) · sh povoj (swaddling cloth) · ota پاچاوره (piece of cloth) · ro influență (influence, effectiveness) · nl slag (informal: blow with the hand) · sh krpa (piece of cloth) · fi paikka (piece of cloth) · sh pljeska (informal: blow with the hand) · ga ceirt (piece of cloth) · es cuña (influence, effectiveness) · enm clout (piece of cloth) · nl invloed (influence, effectiveness) · bg парцал (swaddling cloth) · ota خرقه (piece of cloth) · nl doelwit (archery: center of the butt) · de Einfluss (influence, effectiveness) · nl lap (piece of cloth) · cs vliv (influence, effectiveness) · nl ring (iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing) · cs váha (influence, effectiveness) · nl roos (archery: center of the butt) · sq arnë (piece of cloth) · bg парцал (piece of cloth) · pl znaczenie polityczne (influence, effectiveness) · sv inflytande (influence, effectiveness) · sh upliv (influence, effectiveness) · nl vod (piece of cloth) · fi kunnari (informal: home run) · de Durchsetzungskraft (influence, effectiveness) · nl slagkracht (influence, effectiveness) · fi tilkku (piece of cloth) · bg парче плат (piece of cloth) · enm clout (swaddling cloth) · ga clabhta (informal: blow with the hand) · fi kapalo (swaddling cloth)