clou
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of clou
1880–85; < French: literally, a nail < Latin clāvus
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.
The name of the restaurant — clou translates to “nail” in French — conveys “something that holds the greatest attention,” much like Cartier’s signature Juste Un Clou bracelet, says Stefanelli.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 24, 2023
In sketching rapidly the story of the ballad,— the raid from England into Ettrick, the return of the raiders, the pursuit,—I omitted the clou, the pivot, the central point of dramatic interest.
From Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy by Andrew Lang
But had he not refused her the wherewithal to remember him—the pearls she needed as the clou of her dear collection, the great relic among relics?
From Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story by Sir Max Beerbohm
But the clou of the whole budget was contained in a private letter from my Chief.
From The Right Stuff Some Episodes in the Career of a North Briton by Ian Hay
The clou of the sale was undoubtedly the portrait of his wife and two children.
From Promenades of an Impressionist by James Huneker
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.