clout
part of speech
noun (clout; also a clout, clouts); verb (clout, clouts, clouted, clouting)
meaning for a pupil
1) (noun) Power and influence over what happens: «The big companies have a lot of clout». tree →
2) (noun, informal, UK) A hard hit, especially with the hand: «a clout round the ear». tree →
3) (verb, informal) To hit someone or something hard. tree →
4) (noun, sport) In baseball or cricket, a hard hit of the ball. tree →
5) (noun, old, UK dialect) A piece of cloth or a rag, as in the saying «Ne'er cast a clout till May be out». tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: An old word for a patch or piece of cloth or rag, as in "worn clouts" and shoes "clouted" meaning patched. In the primary lessons: In news and politics «clout» means power to get your way: rich countries, big firms or famous people «have clout». In stories set in the past, an angry adult might give a naughty child «a clout», which today we know is hitting and is not okay. In sport commentary a batter «clouts» the ball for a home run or a six. Phrases: «political clout», «financial clout», «have clout», «a clout round the ear», «don't cast a clout till May be out» (do not take off warm clothes too early in spring).
examples
- And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah: 'Put now these worn clouts and rags under thine armholes under the cords.' And Jeremiah did so. (Prophets JER.38.12, JPS 1917) tree →
- and worn shoes and clouted upon their feet, and worn garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become crumbs. (Prophets JOS.9.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence worn clouts and worn rags, and let them down by cords into the pit to Jeremiah. (Prophets JER.38.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- The school council does not have much clout, but the head teacher listens to it. tree →
- Big supermarkets use their clout to get low prices from farmers. tree →
- In the old story, the farmer gave the boy a clout round the ear. tree →
- The batter clouted the ball over the fence. tree →
- Hitting people is wrong, so nobody should get a clout for a mistake. tree →
- Grandma says, «Ne'er cast a clout till May be out», so I kept my coat on. tree →
- The star footballer's clout helped raise money for the hospital. tree →
- That country has a lot of clout at the United Nations. tree →
- He didn't like that at all, and it would be mean to give one of them a clout. tree →
note
«Clout» meaning power is uncountable (much clout, a lot of clout). «A clout» meaning a hit is countable. The «hit» sense is informal and mostly British; hitting a person is never a safe or kind thing to do. Do not confuse with «cloud» (sky) or «clot» (a lump of blood; also UK slang for a silly person).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «clout» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.