Noun

(en noun)

(obsolete) A rock; boulder; a hill.

A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.

*

*:So this was my future home, I thought!Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds , it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

Any mass of dust, steam or smoke resembling such a mass.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Unspontaneous combustion , passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.}}

Anything which makes things foggy or gloomy.

A group or swarm, especially suspended above the ground or flying.

:

*(Bible), (w) xii. 1

*:so great a cloud of witnesses

An elliptical shape or symbol whose outline is a series of semicircles, supposed to resemble a cloud.

:

The Internet, regarded as an amorphous omnipresent space for processing and storage, the focus of cloud computing.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)

, volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Obama's once hip brand is now tainted , passage=Now we are liberal with our innermost secrets, spraying them into the public ether with a generosity our forebears could not have imagined. Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet.}}

(figuratively) A negative aspect of something positive: see every cloud has a silver lining or every silver lining has a cloud.

*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=January 25, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC

, title= Blackpool 2-3 Man Utd , passage=The only cloud on their night was that injury to Rafael, who was followed off the pitch by his anxious brother Fabio as he was stretchered away down the tunnel.}}

(slang) Crystal methamphetamine.

A large, loosely-knitted headscarf worn by women.

Noun

(en noun)

Influence or effectiveness, especially political.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=December 15 , author=Felicity Cloake , title=How to cook the perfect nut roast , work=Guardian citation , page= , passage=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. Vegetarian tweeter Jessica Edmonds tells me her boyfriend likes a similar recipe because "it tastes of Twiglets!". I'm with him – frankly, what's Christmas without a Twiglet? – but Annie Bell's goat's cheese has given me an idea for something even more festive. Stilton works brilliantly with parsnips, providing a savoury richness which feels a little more special than common or garden yeast extract. Blue cheese calls to mind the chestnuts used by Mary Berry of course, and now I'm on a roll, I pop in some sage and onion too, in a nod to the classic festive stuffing. }}

(regional, informal) A blow with the hand.

* 1910 , , Frau Brenchenmacher Attends A Wedding

'Such a clout on the ear as you gave me… But I soon taught you.'

(informal) A home run.

* 2011 , , "Triple double", in The Boston Globe , August 17, 2011, p. C1.

'... allowed Boston to score all of its runs on homers, including a pair of clouts by Jacoby Ellsbury ...'

(archery) The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.

* Shakespeare

A' must shoot nearer or he'll ne'er hit the clout .

(regional, dated) A swaddling cloth.

(archaic) A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag.

* Spenser

His garments, nought but many ragged clouts , / With thorns together pinned and patched was.

* Shakespeare

a clout upon that head where late the diadem stood

*

(archaic) An iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing; a washer.

* 1866 , , A History of Agriculture and Prices in England , Volume 1, p. 546.

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.

(obsolete) A piece; a fragment.

(Chaucer)