clothe
Americanverb
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to dress or attire (a person)
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to provide with clothing or covering
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to conceal or disguise
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to endow or invest
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preclotheverb (used with object)
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reclotheverb (used with object)
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half-clothedadjective
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underclothedadjective
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well-clothedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clothesimple
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clothessimple
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have cladperfect
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have clothedperfect
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has cladperfect
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has clothedperfect
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am clothingprogressive
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are clothingprogressive
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is clothingprogressive
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have been clothingperfect progressive
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has been clothingperfect progressive
Past
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clothedsimple
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had cladperfect
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had clothedperfect
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was clothingprogressive
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were clothingprogressive
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had been clothingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
“If I have money, I can dream of many things. But if I have no money, how do we eat? How do we clothe ourselves? Where would we live?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
I take the injunction to welcome the stranger and to feed and clothe very seriously.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2024
“Not only is food very expensive, but school supplies have also doubled in price. I also have to clothe my children and, above all, deal with their illnesses,” the 65-year-old said.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
In addition to the jute garments Vargas wove to clothe Argote in for the performance, the show also includes a more straightforward painting, “Pain Body,” made in what Argote calls “ancestral” oil paint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
Even though the nation’s steel companies were enormously profitable, their workers were paid wages so low they could barely afford to feed, clothe, and house themselves and their families.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
Shop staff involved in the programme will be given trauma informed training and will offer survivors free personal shopper sessions to choose clothes they feel comfortable in.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Mi-ok has to tell Ye-ji that her expensive clothes don’t jibe with someone championing labor issues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
In that conversation, Arthur complained that the last time she saw her daughter, in 1978, the 12-year-old was wearing clothes she deemed immodest.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
And a couple of recent studies suggest the monthly cost of dating - from apps to entertainment and clothes - can add up to around £130.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Heaven knows it wasn’t her clothes; our little watch shop had never made much money.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
So it may surprise some that Talbot’s favorite scene from “Love Story” involves both Kelly and Pidgeon fully clothed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Another video shows a heavy police presence and cordon around the Your Move estate agent, where paramedics are giving medical treatment to a clothed man on the ground who has his arm in a sling.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
It is clothed and unclothed; decorated and distorted; idealized, stylized, politicized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
“We love to do what we do on farms — keeping people fed, clothed and moving. But we have to be able to make ends meet so we can keep operating.”
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 21, 2026
He was clothed in a coat of velvet and diamond dust with long, fluttering tails in the shape of knife blades, and his boots were white spectral leather buckled with lys.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
On a rainy Thursday in Broken Bow, buyers clad in cowboy hats, plaid shirts and denim gathered for the regular indoor cattle auction.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
At the time, posts featuring celebrities and influencers clad in medical scrubs posing with Prenuvo MRI machines felt inescapable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
After a rousing performance by a white-robe clad vocal collective co-founded by Pharrell Williams, Lucas’ wife Mellody Hobson noted that, “George kept saying, ‘Will this person come?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
Sacks was on stage with Huang at a live taping, when Huang, clad in his usual black leather jacket, took the call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Father, clad in overalls, gets down on his hands and knees and brushes the rug so vigorously that the room is enveloped in a cloud of dust.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Even after 40 years, particles measuring just 8 to 50 micrometers remain highly radioactive, and entering affected areas still requires protective clothing.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
Karen Millen, founder of the Karen Millen clothing brand said she was "very honoured" to be part of the installation.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Alfozan, 35, appeared in court on Monday, dressed in orange prison clothing.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
It is expanding clothing, silks and shoe offerings in an effort to draw more shoppers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Finally, she gets a steady office job at Levi Strauss & Co., an American clothing company, where she interacts with the public daily.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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