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

My stomach was in knots as I pictured myself clad in a lemon chiffon dress looking like a dollop of meringue, doing the Viennese waltz — something resembling a Centrum Silver commercial.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Under a blazing sun, clad in black and clutching portraits of their slain leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian pilgrims streamed across the border into Iraq to observe the Arbaeen, the most revered event in Shia Islam.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

A planning application, lodged in March, would have seen the building clad in a false façade including an advertising screen to hide building work prior to the fire.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Weaver, a Florida native clad in a navy Cowboys cheerleaders tracksuit during a recent video call, refutes this.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

Frodo saw Glorfindel and Glóin; and in a corner alone Strider was sitting, clad in his old travel-worn clothes again.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

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

The Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people in 2017, with the cladding found to be the "principal" reason for the blaze's rapid spread.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Scallops and cross-hatches festoon part of the home’s cladding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 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