Showing results for "clad"

• past participle of clothe.

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• clad
  clad

  verb

  a simple past tense and past participle of clothe.
• clad-
  clad-

  variant of clado- before a vowel.

clad

¹ American  

[klad] / klæd /

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of clothe.

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adjective

1. dressed.

   ill-clad vagrants.

2. covered.

   vine-clad cottages.

clad ² American  

[klad] / klæd /

verb (used with object)

clad, cladding

1. to bond a metal to (another metal), especially to provide with a protective coat.

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clad- ³ American  

1. variant of clado- before a vowel.

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clad ¹ British  

/ klæd /

verb

1. a past participle of clothe

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clad ² British  

/ klæd /

verb

1. (tr) to bond a metal to (another metal), esp to form a protective coating

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Etymology

Origin of clad¹

before 950; Middle English cladd ( e ), Old English clāthod ( e ) clothed. See clothe, -ed ²

Origin of clad²

First recorded in 1935–40; special use of clad ¹

Explanation

Clad means "dressed or covered." Most kids go to school clad in jeans and t-shirts, but students in the Shakespeare club might show up clad in velvet gowns or leather breeches. As a verb, clad is the past tense and past particle of “clothe,” as in “the leprechaun clad himself in green.” It’s also an adjective that describes being covered or clothed, so a building can be clad in brick, while a person can be clad in head-to-toe sequins. It’s an old-fashioned word, kind of like “shod,” which means “wearing footwear.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clad cladding

In a Bicentennial print, the Luiseño artist Fritz Scholder portrays a Native American man clad in an inverted American flag.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Luxe flooring includes slabs of Italian marble and oak, while the new kitchen serves up top-of-the-line appliances and marble counters, and the bathrooms are clad in marble.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026

Twentysomethings clad in Deftones and Pikachu tees, Dodgers caps, and beaded bracelets joined the procession, snaking from the dance floor through the bar area and back down again.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

A first win, a first clean sheet, fans clad in yellow dancing in the stands.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

Merchants and craftsmen leaned out of their windows or strolled by with their fat, pretty wives, clad in richly dyed wool.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

It was blamed in part on the building’s highly flammable cladding and lack of alarms, sprinklers and a fire escape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The prosecutor's office is already investigating a criminal complaint regarding the 958,000-euro renovation of the tower's surrounding 700-metre wall, for which workers were painting a brick-effect concrete facade instead of laying brick cladding.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

A City of Edinburgh Council report later found a previous building survey carried out in May 2022 identified a series of issues, including "combustible cladding and insulation, combustible decking and internal fire-stopping issues".

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

The price of aluminum, which is used for window framing, roofing and cladding, is rising, too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Everything pointed to the possibility that the fuel in the spent pool was no longer underwater, and that the zirconium cladding that encased the fuel rods had ignited.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland