clout
pronunciation
How to pronounce clout in British English:
UK [klaʊt]
How to pronounce clout in American English:
US [klaʊt]
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- Noun:
- a target used in archery
- special advantage or influence
- a short nail with a flat head; used to attach sheet metal to wood
- (boxing) a blow with the fist
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- Verb:
- strike hard, especially with the fist
Word Origin
- clout
- clout: [OE] In Old English, a clout was a patch of cloth put over a hole to mend it. Hence in due course it came to be used simply for a ‘piece of cloth’, and by further extension for a ‘garment’ (as in ‘Ne’er cast a clout till May be out’). However, the reason for its colloquial application to ‘hit, blow’, which dates from the 14th century, is not known, and indeed this may be an entirely different word. As for the word’s ultimate antecedents, it probably comes, along with cleat, clot, cluster, and clutter, from a prehistoric Germanic base *klut-, *kleut-, *klaut-.=> cleat, clot, cluster, clutter
- clout (n.)
- Old English clut "lump of something," also "patch of cloth put over a hole to mend it," from Proto-Germanic *klutaz (cognates: Old Norse klute "kerchief," Danish klud "rag, tatter," Frisian klut "lump," Dutch kluit "clod, lump"); perhaps related to clot (v.). In later use "a handkerchief," also "a woman's sanitary napkin." Sense of "a blow" is from c. 1400 early 14c., from the verb. Sense of "personal influence" is 1958, on the notion of "punch, force."
- clout (v.)
- "to beat, strike," early 14c., from clout (n.), perhaps on the notion of hitting someone with a lump of something, or from the "patch of cloth" sense of that word (compare clout (v.) "to patch, mend," mid-14c.). Related: Clouted; clouting.
Example
- 1. It may even give him more clout in asia .
- 2. What venice needs most is clout at national level .
- 3. Naturally this constituency will have more clout .
- 4. That also carries great financial clout .
- 5. Washington 's clout in latin america is waning .