clout

Meanings

Noun

• Influence or effectiveness, especially political.
• A blow with the hand.
• A home run.
• The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.
• A swaddling cloth.
• A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag.
• An iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing; a washer.
• A piece; a fragment.

Verb

• To hit, especially with the fist.
• To cover with cloth, leather, or other material; to bandage, patch, or mend with a clout.
• 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.

Origin

• From Middle English clout, from Old English clūt, from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gelewdos, from Proto-Indo-European *gel-. The sense “influence, especially political” originated in the dialect of Chicago, but has become widespread.
• Cognate with Old Norse klútr ("kerchief"), Swedish klut, Danish klud, Middle High German klōz, whence German Kloß, and dialect Russian глуда. See also cleat.