verb
-
to dress or attire (a person)
-
to provide with clothing or covering
-
to conceal or disguise
-
to endow or invest
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of clothe
before 950; Middle English clothen, Old English clāthian, derivative of clāth cloth
Explanation
To clothe someone is to give them something to wear, or to dress them in clothing. If you clothe your dog in cute outfits, you may traumatize him for life. You can clothe yourself, or someone else — for example, you might clothe yourself in black for a relative's funeral or clothe yourself in sequins and feathers for the school dance. You can also figuratively clothe someone or something, lending them a sense of power or respectability. Clothe shares a root with clothing and cloth, the Old English claþ, "cloth or sail," and also "woven material to wrap around oneself."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Clothe him, then, O my God, by Thy grace, with the robe of well-being and health, and guard him, O my Beloved, from every affliction and disorder, and from whatever is obnoxious unto Thee.
From Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh
Clothe these deserts with verdure, and intersperse them with rivers and mountains, and forthwith the fertile plains of Hindostan would become a great desert, and its two hundred millions of inhabitants perish.
From Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States by Semmes, Raphael
Clothe me in my simplest dress, put on my leggins and my moccasins, and hang the cross I have worn so long, around my neck, and let it lie upon my bosom.
From An Account of Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha, or Red Jacket, and His People, 1750-1830 by Hubbard, John Niles
Precious fabrics of her loom Clothe her darling of the year; Wealth of sunshine; breath of bloom; Cloudless days, so fair, so dear.
From Grace Harlowe's Golden Summer by Flower, Jessie Graham [pseud.]
What to the king th' illustrious Gama said Clothe in immortal verse.
From The Lusiad or The Discovery of India, an Epic Poem by Camões, Luís de
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
