Might vs Clout - What's the difference?
might | clout | Synonyms |
(uncountable) Power, strength, force or influence held by a person or group.
(uncountable) Physical strength.
(uncountable) The ability to do something.
Mighty; powerful; possible.
(lb) Used to indicate conditional or possible actions.
:
* Bishop Joseph Hall
*
*:“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
, volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (lb) (may) Used to indicate permission in past tense.
:
(lb) (may) Used to indicate possibility in past tense.
:
*, chapter=1
, title= *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=19 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
(regional, informal) A blow with the hand.
* 1910 , , Frau Brenchenmacher Attends A Wedding
(informal) A home run.
* 2011 , , "Triple double", in The Boston Globe , August 17, 2011, p. C1.
(archery) The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.
* Shakespeare
(regional, dated) A swaddling cloth.
(archaic) A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag.
* Spenser
* Shakespeare
*
(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.
(obsolete) A piece; a fragment.
To hit, especially with the fist.
To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage; patch, or mend, with a clout.
* Latimer
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
Might is a synonym of clout.
As nouns the difference between might and clout
is that might is (uncountable) power, strength, force or influence held by a person or group while clout is influence or effectiveness, especially political.As verbs the difference between might and clout
is that might is (lb) used to indicate conditional or possible actions while clout is to hit, especially with the fist.As an adjective might
is mighty; powerful; possible.might
English
(wikipedia might)Etymology 1
From (etyl) might, myghte, (also maught, macht, maht), from (etyl) miht, mieht, meaht, .Noun
(-)- He pushed with all his might , but still it would not move.
Adjective
(er)Etymology 2
From (etyl) meahte, from magan, whence English may.Verb
(head)- The characterism of an honest man: He looks not to what he might do, but what he should.
Fantasy of navigation, passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next;
Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
citation, passage=Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.}}
Conjugation
* archaic second-person singular simple past - mightest * nonstandard, archaic third-person singular simple past - mightethSee also
* could *clout
English
Noun
(en noun)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. }}
- 'Such a clout on the ear as you gave me… But I soon taught you.'
- '... allowed Boston to score all of its runs on homers, including a pair of clouts by Jacoby Ellsbury ...'
- A' must shoot nearer or he'll ne'er hit the clout .
- His garments, nought but many ragged clouts , / With thorns together pinned and patched was.
- a clout upon that head where late the diadem stood
- 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.
- (Chaucer)
Derived terms
* breech-clout * clout list * clout-nail * ne'er cast a clout til May be outVerb
(en verb)- Paul, yea, and Peter, too, had more skill in clouting an old tent than to teach lawyers.
- if fond Bavius vent his clouted song