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English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of clout in English

clout
verb [ T ]
  informal
uk
/klaʊt/ us
/klaʊt/
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to hit someone or something with the hand or with a heavy object:
Quigley clouted me smartly across the side of the head.
If you clout a ball, such as in cricket or baseball, you hit it hard:
He effortlessly clouts the ball over the advertising boards and into the stands.
He clouted 32 off 11 successive balls.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Hitting and beating
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
clout
noun
uk
/klaʊt/ us
/klaʊt/

clout noun (POWER)

[ U ]
power and influence over other people or events:
have political clout The King may have privilege, but he has no real political clout.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Power and intensity
See more results »

clout noun (HIT)

[ C ] informal
the act of hitting someone or something with your hand or with a heavy object:
give something a clout If the photocopier stops working, just give it a clout.
[ C ] informal
the act of hitting a ball hard:
He gives the ball an almighty clout.
He showcased his raw power by launching a 463-foot clout that came off the bat at 112 mph.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Hitting and beating
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
(Definition of clout from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

clout | American Dictionary

clout
noun [ U ]
us
/klɑʊt/

clout noun [U] (POWER)

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power and influence over other people or events:
The small firms banded together so they would have more clout in Washington.
clout
verb [ T ]
  infml
us
/klɑʊt/

clout verb [T] (HIT)

to hit someone heavily with the hand or an object
(Definition of clout from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of clout

clout
He gave them drink and food; costly goods he gave them all: capes without price, and valuable breech clouts, and devices, and costly shields.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Clout's words, both these unfortunate patients and humanity require.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Is it reasonable to expect a man you are clouting on the jaw to offer you his wage packet?
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
The first, a simple one, has often been discussed here—that it used to be erroneously believed that clouting the trade unions was a vote winner.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
There may be a row at that very moment, and it is usually the innocent ones who get clouted and not the guilty ones.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
They do not engage in it lightly, because it also clouts them economically.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Has the thoughts unravel, he ends up injuring himself by clouting the wall out of agony.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
They were also active elsewhere, since media ownership invests some political clout.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
They had considerable clout in the area and had a trust registered in their names.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Conversely, these followers were dependent on their chief for maintenance, their prospects connected with his largesse and political clout.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The best known architects have the clout and the influence necessary to experiment with and to modify standards.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Second, political clout as well as economic power has shielded this group from pastoralists rancor.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In most developing countries, such groups do not exist, or do not have the necessary political and financial clout.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In battle the men wore red cedar armour and helmets, and breech clouts made from cedar.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Citizens in over-represented, poor and rural districts may use their political clout to secure policy interventions that improve their economic welfare.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
See all examples of clout
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of clout?
 

Translations of clout

in Chinese (Traditional)
（用手或重物）猛打，猛擊，敲, 權力, 權勢…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
（用手或重物）猛打，猛击，敲, 权力, 权势…
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in Spanish
dar un tortazo a, peso, influencia…
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in Portuguese
dar um tapa em, influência, peso…
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in more languages
in Turkish
in French
in Japanese
in Dutch
in Czech
in Danish
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Ukrainian
nüfuz, güç ve etki, fiske…
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poids [masculine], coup, influence…
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権力（けんりょく）…
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mep, invloed, meppen…
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facka, vliv, nátlak…
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ørefigen, politisk indflydelse, slå hårdt…
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pukulan, tamparan, pengaruh…
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การตี, การมีอิทธิพล, ตี…
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cái tát, quyền lực ngầm, tát nảy lửa…
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autorytet, siła przebicia, cios…
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slag, inflytande, slå till…
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pukulan, pengaruh, pukul…
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der Schlag, die Ohrfeige, die Macht…
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makt [masculine], innflytelse [masculine], flik…
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удар, ляпас, вплив…
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