clout

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“
But his clout was already on the wane even before his last election two years ago.

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Definitions (28)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. noun A blow, especially with the fist.
  2. noun Baseball A long powerful hit.
  3. noun Sports An archery target.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (14)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

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Examples (50)

  • He was clad in but a breech-clout, and thick, coppery hair matted his huge frame. —  Wonder Stories Quarterly Summer 1932
  • "We always talk about California clout - and the clout was not there during the Bush years," said Bill Whalen, research fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford. —  SFGate: Top News Stories
  • But his clout was already on the wane even before his last election two years ago. —  CNN Political Ticker
  • That figure plays down their real clout, analysts say, because they control the most profitable parts of the business. —  EcoEarth.Info Environment RSS Newsfeed
  • The other one with clout is the one in the long dress. —  timesofmalta.com
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

firepower ·  leverage ·  prestige ·  downturn ·  manpower ·  leeway ·  advisors
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, probably from Old English clūt, cloth patch.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (6)

  1. from Middle English clout, clut, a patch, shred, from Anglo-Saxon clūt, a patch, a plate (of metal) (later Icelandic klūtr, a kerchief, = Swedish klut = Danish klud, a rag, clout), from Welsh clwt = Irish Gaelic clud = Manx clooid, a clout, patch.
  2. from Middle English clouten, clutien, from Anglo-Saxon *clūtian (in past participle ge-clūtod, patched), from clūt, a patch: see the noun.
  3. from Middle English clout, clowte, a blow; origin unknown.
  4. English dial. also clut; from Middle English clouten, clowten, strike, beat: see clout, n.
  5. apparently short for clout-nail, where clout is either from French clouet (Cotgrave), a little nail (diminutive of clou, a nail: see clove), later clouter, stud with nails, or from clout, v., patch, cobble, especially of shoes, in the patching of which clout-nails would be used. See quot. from Piers Plowman, under clout, v.
  6. from clout, n. Cf. French clouter, stud.
 

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/klaʊt/
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