cloth

[ klawth, kloth ]
See synonyms for cloth on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural cloths [klawthz, klothz, klawths, kloths]. /klɔðz, klɒðz, klɔθs, klɒθs/.
  1. a fabric formed by weaving, felting, etc., from wool, hair, silk, flax, cotton, or other fiber, used for garments, upholstery, and many other items.

  2. a piece of such a fabric for a particular purpose: an altar cloth.

  1. the particular attire of any profession, especially that of the clergy.: Compare man of the cloth.

  2. the cloth, the clergy: men of the cloth.

  3. Nautical.

    • one of the lengths of canvas or duck of standard width sewn side by side to form a sail, awning, or tarpaulin.

    • any of various pieces of canvas or duck for reinforcing certain areas of a sail.

    • a number of sails taken as a whole.

  4. Obsolete. a garment; clothing.

adjective
  1. of or made of cloth: She wore a cloth coat trimmed with fur.

Origin of cloth

1
before 900; Middle English cloth, clath cloth, garment, Old English clāth; cognate with Dutch kleed,German Kleid

Other words from cloth

  • clothlike, adjective
  • un·der·cloth, noun

Words that may be confused with cloth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cloth in a sentence

  • The Malays wore long cloths wound round their bodies, with one end hanging over their shoulder.

  • Then she wet cloths in the cool water of the brook and laid them across her little sister's hot forehead.

    The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • Jess agreed, and together the two older children kept changing the cool cloths on Violet's aching head.

    The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • The table-cloths and napkins were of cotton diaper, and there was a good deal of plate used, but not displayed.

  • He gone my brother Tom comes, with whom I made even with my father and the two drapers for the cloths I sent to sea lately.

British Dictionary definitions for cloth

cloth

/ (klɒθ) /


nounplural cloths (klɒθs, klɒðz)
    • a fabric formed by weaving, felting or knitting wool, cotton, etc

    • (as modifier): a cloth bag

  1. a piece of such fabric used for a particular purpose, as for a dishcloth

  1. the cloth

    • the clothes worn by a clergyman

    • the clergy

  2. obsolete clothing

  3. nautical any of the panels of a sail

  4. mainly British a piece of coloured fabric, used on the stage as scenery

  5. Western African a garment in a traditional non-European style

Origin of cloth

1
Old English clāth; related to Old Frisian klēth, Middle High German kleit cloth, clothing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with cloth

cloth

see out of whole cloth; sackcloth and ashes.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.