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Impact vs Clout - What's the difference?

impact | clout |

As nouns the difference between impact and clout

is that impact is the striking of one body against another; collision while clout is influence or effectiveness, especially political.

As verbs the difference between impact and clout

is that impact is to compress; to compact; to press or pack together while clout is to hit, especially with the fist.

impact

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The striking of one body against another; collision.
  • The force or energy of a collision of two objects.
    • The hatchet cut the wood on impact .
  • (chiefly, medicine) A forced impinging.
    • His spine had an impingement; L4 and L5 made impact , which caused numbness in his leg.
  • A significant or strong influence; an effect.
    • His friend's opinion had an impact on his decision.
    Our choice of concrete will have a tremendous impact on the building's mechanical performance.

    Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "impact": social, political, physical, positive, negative, good, bad, beneficial, harmful, significant, great, important, strong, big, small, real, huge, likely, actual, potential, devastating, disastrous, true, primary. * The adposition generally used with "impact" is "on" (such as in last example in section above) * There are English speakers who are so ). In defensive editing, the solution is to replace the figurative noun sense with effect'' and the verb sense with ''affect , which nearly always produces an acceptable result. (Rarely, a phrase such as "the impact of late effects" is better stetted to avoid "the effect of [...] effects".)

    Derived terms

    * impactful * impactive * impact statement * Western impact

    Related terms

    * impinge

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To compress; to compact; to press or pack together.
    • If fecal incontinence is caused by impacted stool in the rectum, the impaction must be removed.
  • (proscribed) To influence; to affect; to have an on.
    • ''I can make the changes, but it will impact the schedule.
  • To collide or strike.
    • When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.

    Usage notes

    Some authorities object to the verb sense of impact'', meaning "to influence; to affect; to have an impact on" or "to collide or strike". Although most .

    Derived terms

    * impactor

    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