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Clout vs Heft - What's the difference?

clout | heft |

In obsolete terms the difference between clout and heft

is that clout is a piece; a fragment while heft is past participle of to heave.

As nouns the difference between clout and heft

is that clout is influence or effectiveness, especially political while heft is weight.

As verbs the difference between clout and heft

is that clout is to hit, especially with the fist while heft is to lift up; especially, to lift something heavy.

clout

English

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)

    Derived terms

    * breech-clout * clout list * clout-nail * ne'er cast a clout til May be out

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To hit, especially with the fist.
  • To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage; patch, or mend, with a clout.
  • * Latimer
    • Paul, yea, and Peter, too, had more skill in clouting an old tent than to teach lawyers.
  • To stud with nails, as a timber, or a boot sole.
  • To guard with an iron plate, as an axletree.
  • To join or patch clumsily.
  • * P. Fletcher
    • if fond Bavius vent his clouted song

    References

    heft

    English

    Alternative forms

    * haft

    Noun

  • (uncountable) Weight.
  • * T. Hughes
    • a man of his age and heft
  • *, chapter=5
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.}}
  • Heaviness, the feel of weight.
  • * '>citation
  • (Northern England) A piece of mountain pasture to which a farm animal has become hefted.
  • An animal that has become hefted thus.
  • (West of Ireland) Poor condition in sheep caused by mineral deficiency.
  • The act or effort of heaving; violent strain or exertion.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • He cracks his gorge, his sides, / With violent hefts .
  • (US, dated, colloquial) The greater part or bulk of anything.
  • *

    • Derived terms

    * hefty

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To lift up; especially, to lift something heavy.
    • He hefted the sack of concrete into the truck.
  • To test the weight of something by lifting it.
  • (Northern England and Scotland) To become accustomed and attached to an area of mountain pasture.
  • (obsolete) past participle of to heave.

    • Synonyms

    * hoist