clough

Meaning

Noun

• A narrow valley; a cleft in a hillside; a ravine, glen, or gorge.
• A sluice used in returning water to a channel after depositing its sediment on the flooded land.
• A cliff; a rocky precipice.
• The cleft or fork of a tree; crotch.
• A wood; weald.
• Alternative of cloff

Origin

• From Middle English clough, clow, cloȝ, from Old English *clōh, from Proto-Germanic *klanh-, *klanh-, of uncertain origin, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gel-.
• Cognate with Scots cleuch, Old High German klāh , Old High German klingo, klinga. Perhaps conflated or influenced by Old Norse klofi; compare Dutch kloof ("a slit, crevice, chink"). See also cling, clove.