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cloche

[klohsh, klawsh]
noun
  1. a woman's close-fitting hat with a deep, bell-shaped crown and often a narrow, turned-down brim.
  2. a bell-shaped glass cover placed over a plant to protect it from frost and to force its growth.
  3. a bell-shaped metal or glass cover placed over a plate to keep food warm or fresh.
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Origin of cloche

1905–10; < French: bell, bell-jar < Medieval Latin clocca. See cloak
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cloche

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • He forgot that; kept the cloche moving; fought the wind with his will as with his body.

    The Trail of the Hawk

    Sinclair Lewis

  • I followed down a narrow but well-beaten trail, and so at the end of a half-mile came to the meadow and the post of Cloche.

    The Forest

    Stewart Edward White

  • By this time "Cloche" has been spelled, so that the next question is, "Was it the bell?"

British Dictionary definitions for cloche

cloche

noun
  1. a bell-shaped cover used to protect young plants
  2. a woman's almost brimless close-fitting hat, typical of the 1920s and 1930s
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Word Origin

C19: from French: bell, from Medieval Latin clocca
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

Word Origin and History for cloche

n.

type of bell jar, 1882, from French cloche "bell, bell glass" (12c.), from Late Latin clocca "bell" (see clock (n.1)). As a type of women's hat, recorded from 1907, so called from its shape.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper