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cloth definition

cloth (klôt̸h, klät̸h)

noun pl. cloths (klôt̸hz, klät̸hz; also klôt̸hs, klät̸hs for “kinds of cloth'')

  1. a woven, knitted, or pressed fabric of fibrous material, as cotton, wool, silk, hair, or synthetic fibers
  2. 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

  1. made of cloth
  2. clothbound
cloth Idioms

the cloth

  1. the usual or identifying dress of a profession, esp. of the clergy
  2. 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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