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)

Noun

(lb) An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms.

*

*:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.

*

*:Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days.Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.

(lb) A covering of material, such as paint.^(w)

*(John Milton) (1608-1674)

*:Fruit of all kinds, in coat / Rough or smooth rined, or bearded husk, or shell.

(lb) The fur or feathers covering an animal's skin.

:

Canvas painted with thick tar and secured round a mast or bowsprit to prevent water running down the sides into the hold (now made of rubber or leather).

(lb) A petticoat.

*(John Locke) (1632-1705)

*:a child in coats

The habit or vesture of an order of men, indicating the order or office; cloth.

*(Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)

*:Men of his coat should be minding their prayers.

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:She was sought by spirits of richest coat .

A coat of arms.^(w)

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:Hark, countrymen! either renew the fight, / Or tear the lions out of England's coat .

A coat card.

*(Philip Massinger) (1583-1640)

*:Here's a trick of discarded cards of us! We were ranked with coats as long as old master lived.