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# clout

«clout» in Mova's school dictionary: **Power and influence over what happens: «The big companies…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (clout; also a clout, clouts); verb (clout, clouts, clouted, clouting)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (noun) Power and influence over what happens: «The big companies have a lot of clout». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#m1)

2) (noun, informal, UK) A hard hit, especially with the hand: «a clout round the ear». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#m2)

3) (verb, informal) To hit someone or something hard. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#m3)

4) (noun, sport) In baseball or cricket, a hard hit of the ball. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#m4)

5) (noun, old, UK dialect) A piece of cloth or a rag, as in the saying «Ne'er cast a clout till May be out». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In news and politics «clout» means power to get your way: rich countries, big firms or famous people «have clout». In stories set in the past, an angry adult might give a naughty child «a clout», which today we know is hitting and is not okay. In sport commentary a batter «clouts» the ball for a home run or a six. Phrases: «political clout», «financial clout», «have clout», «a clout round the ear», «don't cast a clout till May be out» (do not take off warm clothes too early in spring).

### examples

- The school council does not have much clout, but the head teacher listens to it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x1)
- Big supermarkets use their clout to get low prices from farmers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x2)
- In the old story, the farmer gave the boy a clout round the ear. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x3)
- The batter clouted the ball over the fence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x4)
- Hitting people is wrong, so nobody should get a clout for a mistake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x5)
- Grandma says, «Ne'er cast a clout till May be out», so I kept my coat on. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x6)
- The star footballer's clout helped raise money for the hospital. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x7)
- That country has a lot of clout at the United Nations. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x8)
- He didn't like that at all, and it would be mean to give one of them a clout. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/#x9)

### note

«Clout» meaning power is uncountable (much clout, a lot of clout). «A clout» meaning a hit is countable. The «hit» sense is informal and mostly British; hitting a person is never a safe or kind thing to do. Do not confuse with «cloud» (sky) or «clot» (a lump of blood; also UK slang for a silly person).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «clout» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clout/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.