cloth
cloth definition
cloth (klôt̸h, klät̸h)
noun pl. cloths (klôt̸hz, klät̸hz; also klôt̸hs, klät̸hs for “kinds of cloth'')
- a woven, knitted, or pressed fabric of fibrous material, as cotton, wool, silk, hair, or synthetic fibers
- a piece of such fabric for a specific use tablecloth, washcloth, loincloth
Etymology: ME < OE clath, cloth, hence garment, akin to -clithan, to stick, clitha, poultice < IE *gleit- (> Ger kleid, dress) < base *glei-, to stick > clay
adjective
- made of cloth
- clothbound
cloth Idioms
the cloth
- the usual or identifying dress of a profession, esp. of the clergy
- the clergy collectively
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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