▪ I. cloth, n.
(klɒθ, -ɔː-)
Forms: 1 cláð, 1–4 claþ, 3 cloð, 4 cloþ, 4– cloth, (4 cloþt, 4–5 cloþe, clooþ, clooth, 5 cloiþ, 4–7 clothe, 6–8 cloath). North. 3–5 clath, 4–5 klath, clathe; Sc. 5–6 clayth, -t, 5– claith. Also 4 cleth.
[OE. cláþ, corresp. to OFr. klâth, klâd, klêth (mod.Fris. Saterl. klâth, NFris. klâid, WFris. klaed, EFris. klêd, Wangaroog klêt); MDu. cleet, pl. clêde, Du. and LG. kleed (klêd), MHG. kleit (kleides), Ger. kleid. Unknown in OS., OHG., and Gothic; its general diffusion through the German dialects appears to date about the middle of the 12th c. The ON. form klæði (whence Norw. and Da. klæde, Sw. kläde) does not correspond in vowel or ending to the WGer. (which would require kleið in ON.); its history is obscure. Beside OE. cláþ, which was the source alike of midl. and south. cloth, clothes, and north. clath, claith, pl. clathis, claise, a form clǽþ is recorded once (see 1 below); if genuine (which is doubtful), this may be the source of the north. ME. cleth, clethis, clese, which have otherwise been referred to a Norse origin.
The original pl. cláðas, is directly represented by the existing clothes, q.v.; this (kləʊðz) is now restricted to the sense ‘garments’; for other senses, cloths has gradually come into use since c 1600, though the complete differentiation of clothes and cloths belongs to the 19th c., cloaths being a prevalent spelling of both in the 18th c. ‘The pronunciation of cloths varies: northerners generally say (klɒθs), or (klɔːθs); Londoners usually (klɔːðz), esp. in senses 1–8, though some reduce it to (-klɒθs) in combination, as in table-cloths, neck-cloths; many would say (klɒθs), or (klɔːθs), meaning ‘kinds of cloth’ (see II)’ (N.E.D.).
The etymology and even the primary sense of OTeut. *klaiþ- are uncertain. The former is prob. to be sought in the Teut. vb. stem klī̆-, klai-, to stick (clay, clean, cleam), but whether the name was applied to cloth as a substance felted or made to stick together, or to a cloth as a thing to be attached or made to cling to the body, is doubtful. The earliest known uses of OE. cláþ are not for the material (a sense hardly evidenced in OE.), but for ‘a cloth’ as a thing to wrap or wind about the body; from this primitive rudiment of attire, we pass naturally on the one hand to the more fully developed ‘clothes’ or garments, and on the other to the material of which all such articles are composed.]
I. With a in sing. Plural cloths, formerly clothes.
1. a. A piece of pliable woven or felted stuff, suitable for wrapping or winding round, spreading or folding over, drying, wiping, or other purpose; a swaddling or winding cloth, wrap, covering, veil, curtain, handkerchief, towel, etc. = L. pannus.
| [a 800: see b.] c 890 K. ælfred Bæda iii. xi. (Bosw.), Heo þa moldan on claðe bewand [inligatam panno]. a 1000 Christ (Gr.) 725 He in binne wæs in cildes hiw claðum biwunden. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 274 Awring þurh claþ. Ibid. II. 260 Do on clæþ. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xix. 40 Hiȝ namon þæs hælendes lichaman and bewundon hine mid linenum claðe. c 1205 Lay. 17699 Ane cule of ane blake claðe. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 7 Yt wolde a rere And bere vp grete cloþes. a 1300 Cursor M. 16767 + 92 Þe clothe þat in þe temple was, In middes it clef in twoo. c 1340 Ibid. 15299 (Trin.) Crist..wesshe alle her feet bidene And wiþ his clooþ aftirward wipud hem ful clene. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. i. (1495) 552 On a whyte clothe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6204 A chariot full choise..couert with a cloth all of clene gold. 1520 R. Elyot in T. Elyot Gov. (1883) App. I. 312, I will that John Mychell..have a gowne cloth. 1530 Palsgr. 206/1 Clothe to put on a herce, poille. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. iv. 157 This Cloth thou dipd'st in blood of my sweet Boy. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. i. i. (1668) 5 Rub all his body and legs over with dry cloaths. 1672 Compl. Gunner i. ix. 12 Pour it [the Lixivium] into wooden Vessels that are broad and cover them over with cloaths. 1810 Southey Keh. xv. 10 The cloth which girt his loins. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 122 Having a cloth round the waist. 1887 Daily News 30 Apr. 5/3 To give a cloth as a present is a very common thing in India. Mod. Bring a cloth to wipe it up. Ricks protected by waterproof cloths. |
b. With attribute expressing purpose: as
altar-cloth,
barm-cloth,
board-cloth,
bolt-cloth,
bolting-cloth,
chrism-cloth,
loin-cloth,
neck-cloth,
table-cloth, etc. See these words.
To this head belong the earliest recorded examples of the word, among which are
OE. cildcláð child-cloth, swaddling cloth,
flyhteclað patch.
| a 800 Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.) 491 Commisura (= patch) flycticlað. Ibid. 623 Cunae, cildclaðas. c 1000 ælfric Gl. (Wr.-W. 124/30) Cune, cildclaðes. Ibid. 127/2 Mappula bearmclað. |
2. spec. = table-cloth: a covering for a table, particularly that spread on it when it is ‘laid’ for a meal.
| c 1300 Beket 691 Hi leide bord and spradde cloth. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 388 [Douglas] fond the met all reddy grathit Vith burdis set and clathis laid. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 758 A clene klath, and brede tharone. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, The Table hauyng at the Communion tyme a fayre white lynnen clothe vpon it. 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres i. 6 When the Cloth was taken away after dinner. 1672 R. Wild Declar. Lib. Consc. 3 My Wife was laying the cloth. 1727 Philip Quarll (1816) 29 Laid the cloth. c 1850 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 482 Supper was ready, and the cloth was spread. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 161 Soon after the cloth was drawn. |
3. a. A sail (
obs.).
b. The sails of a ship collectively; ‘canvas’.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 105 Gederen to þe gyde ropes, þe grete cloþ falles. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9531 Fyve hundrith..shippes [were] Consumet full cleane, clothes & other. 1651 S. Sheppard Epigr. ii. xix. 27 Make all the cloth you can, haste, haste away, The Pirate will o'retake you if you stay. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. iv. 10 Our best advice was, to sail the rest of the night with as little cloth as might be..We clapt on all our cloth. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., When a ship has broad sails they say she spreads much cloth. |
c. One of the several breadths of canvas of which a sail is composed.
| 1674 T. Miller Modellist (1676) 4 You are to place your middle cloth first in a top-sail. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Kk b, The edges of the cloths, or pieces, of which a sail is composed, are generally sewed together with a double seam. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 10 A cloth, a whole strip of canvas; eighteen inches to two feet in breadth. |
d. in combination applied to various pieces of canvas used on board a ship, as mast-, quarter-,
waist-cloth, etc.
e. to shake (have) a cloth in the wind: to get too near to the wind, so that the sails shiver;
fig. to be ragged in clothing; to be slightly intoxicated (
cf. ‘to be three sheets in the wind’).
slang.| 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxix, I found all my family well and hearty; but they all shook a cloth in the wind with respect to toggery. 1836 E. Howard R. Reefer xliii, As the seamen say, they all had got a cloth in the wind—the captain two or three. |
4. cloth of estate, state: a cloth spread over a throne or other seat of dignity; a canopy; a baldachin.
| 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 484 Under a glorious cloth of astate. 1540 Act 31 Hen. VIII, c. 10 No person (except only the Kings children) shal at any time hereafter..presume, to sit or haue place at any side of the cloth of estate in the Parliament chamber. 1650 R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres x. 19 Whether the King would allow him place, as a Prince-Infanta, within the Cloth of State. 1774 Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry II. xvi. 405 He dined both in the hall, and in his privy chamber, under a cloth of estate. |
† 5. painted cloth: a hanging for a room painted or worked with figures, mottoes or texts; tapestry.
| 1542 Boorde Dyetary (1870) 298 The chamber..that the madde man is in, let there be no paynted clothes. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. ii. 28 Slaues as ragged as Lazarus in the painted Cloth. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. v. x. 47 Set this in your painted cloathes. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Tapis, As deafe as an Image in a painted cloth. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 171 That Alexander was a Souldier, painted cloths will confesse, the painter dareth not leave him out of the Nine Worthies. |
† 6. The
canvas on which a picture is painted.
| 1695 Dryden tr. Dufresnoy's Art Paint. Pref., This idea, which we may call the goddess of painting and of sculpture, descends upon the marble and the cloth, and becomes the original of these arts. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 252 A portrait-painter..his price was but five guineas for 3/4 cloth. 1825 Hone Every-Day Bk. I. 1198 One of the front show-cloths [of a booth at a fair] represented one of the fights. |
7. Theatr. The
curtain which separates the auditorium from the stage. Also, a large piece of painted scenery, etc. (see
quot. 1957).
Cf. back-cloth 2,
cut cloth s.v. cut ppl. a. 12 a.
| 1881 P. Fitzgerald World Behind the Scenes 34 Under the old system, where a simple ‘cloth’ quietly glided down, this impression was not left. 1884 J. Hatton Irving's Impr. Amer. I. vii. 165 The effect of the well-known Hampton Court cloth was so perfect. Ibid. II. xi. 265 We took..all the cloths for our entire répertoire, and many of the small practical set-pieces. 1886 [see back-cloth 2]. 1887 Pall Mall G. 11 Jan. 2/2 We can take our ‘cloths’ right up, instead of having to roll them. 1909 Stage Year Book 1908 p. v. (Advt.), The Only Theatre:—In main street—centre of town. That can stage big productions. That can fly cloths. 1957 Oxf. Compan. Theatre (ed. 2) 133/2 Cloth, a term used for any large unframed expanse of canvas or material used for scenery. A modern cloth is generally made of widths of canvas. |
† 8. A definite quantity or length of woven fabric; a ‘piece’.
Obs.| 1469 Househ. Ord. 105 For the Chamberlayne, hedde officers, knyghtes & ladyes..iii clothes; price the clothe viiil. 1483 Act 1 Rich. III, c. 8 §4 Every hole wolen Cloth called brode Cloth..shall..hold and conteyn in leenght xxiiij yerdes..every half Cloth of the seid hole Cloth..holde and conteyne xij yerdis in leynght. 1538 in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. lxxxix. 248, I was wont to sel for most part every yere iiij or v hundred clothes to strangers..as yet..I have sold but xxij clothes. a 1618 Raleigh Rem. (1661) 192 There hath been..transported..about 50000 cloaths, counting three Kersies to a cloath. 1641 W. Hakewill Libert. Subj. 93 A sack of Wool did commonly make foure short clothes. 1660 T. Willsford Scales Commerce i. i. 10 Admit 15 Clothes or Pieces were sold for 340l. 1721 Lond. Gaz. No. 6004/3 Two Tentors..the one for two Cloths, and the other for one Cloth and one half. |
II. As a material: Without
a in
sing. (except when meaning ‘a kind of cloth’, in which sense ‘cloths’ occurs in
pl.).
9. a. A name given, in the most general sense, to every pliant fabric woven, felted, or otherwise formed, of any animal or vegetable (or even mineral) filament, as of wool, hair, silk, the fibres of hemp, flax, cotton, asbestos, spun glass, wire, etc. But when used without qualification or contextual specification, usually understood to mean a
woollen fabric such as is used for wearing apparel. Here again, it is sometimes specifically applied to a
plain-wove woollen fabric, as distinguished from a
twill.
To this most specific sense belong the terms broad-cloth and narrow-cloth,
q.v., the ordinary
black-cloth used for ‘dress’ clothes, clerical attire, etc., and the blue, scarlet, green, or other ‘cloth’, of uniforms and liveries.
[Early
quots. doubtful:
c 1000 is
prob. sense 1;
c 1175 may be sense 11.]
| [c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. ix. 16 Ne deþ witodlice nan man niwes claðes scyp on eald reaf. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 53 Monie of þas wimmen..claþeð heom mid ȝeoluwe claþe þet is þes deofles helfter.] c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1742 Frokkes of fyn cloþ. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 444 Cloth þat cometh fro þe weuyng is nouȝt comly to were, Tyl it is fulled, etc. 1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C. iv/3 Englande hath cloth, Burdeus hath store of wine. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. 89 a, Ane tailyeour can nocht mak ane garment bot of clayth. 1568 Graeton Chron. II. 692 He that could have it neyther of Golde nor of Silver, had it of silke or cloth. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iv. 48 Like a Miser spoyle his Coat, with scanting A little Cloth. 1635 Sanderson Serm. 446 Cloath and leather. 1663 Pepys Diary 22 Sept. My present care is..a new black cloth suit, and coate and cloake. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4095/2 Coarse Yorkshire-Cloth..proper for Cloathing Soldiers, and the poorer sort of People. 1833 H. Martineau Vanderput & S. ii. 35 There would always be blue cloth in the market. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Ability Wks. (Bohn) II. 44 A dye which is more lasting than the cloth. 1864 Derby Mercury 7 Dec., The outer shell of the coffin was of oak, covered with black cloth. Mod. A cloth coat and Tweed trousers. |
b. with qualification, or contextual specification.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxv, No clothe..wrought out of England as clothe of gold, of sylk, velvet or damaske. 1582 Middlesex County Rec. I. 130 A piece of linen cloth called ‘a biggen’. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 140 Paulus Venetus..affirms that in some parts of Tartarie, there were Mines of Iron whose filaments were weaved into incombustible cloth. 1677 A. Yarranton Engl. Improv. 52 Three hundred weight of Flax..will make four hundred Ells of Cloth. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 32 A surtout of oiled cloth. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v., There are Woollen, Linnen, and other Cloths, which are made of Hemp, Flax, Cotton, Silk, Nettle, etc., there are likewise Cloths of Gold and Silver. 1765 Act 5 Geo. III (title) Laws relating to the manufacture of woollen cloth in the county of York. 1798 W. Nicholson Jrnl. Nat. Philos. II. 412 (title) On the Art of covering Wire Cloth with a transparent Varnish, as a Substitute for Horn. 1833 H. Martineau Vanderput & S. iv. 76 Sugar, coffee, and woollen cloths were disposed of. 1833 Penny Cycl. I. Title-p., Price Seven Shillings and Sixpence, bound in cloth. 1866 Treas. Bot. 172 The natives..manufacture from this bark an exceedingly tough cloth. 1875 Ure Dict. Art I. 255 A prize for the improvement of asbestos cloth. Ibid. I. 421 The bookbinders cloth now so extensively used, is a cotton fabric. Ibid. III. 120 The manufacture of cloth from flaxen material. |
c. In various phrasal combinations:
cloth of gold, a tissue consisting of threads, wires or strips of gold, generally interwoven with silk or wool; also applied to gilded cloth;
cloth of silver, a cloth similarly woven with silver.
American cloth, a flexible enamelled cloth resembling leather, used for covering chairs, etc.
Also
cloth of Arras,
baudekin or
bodkin,
lake,
pleasance, Raynes,
tars, etc.; and
broadcloth,
care-cloth,
cerecloth,
haircloth,
oilcloth,
sackcloth, etc.,
q.v.| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1710 The lystes..Hanged with clooth of gold and nat with sarge. 1530 Palsgr. 206/1 Clothe of sylver, drap dargent. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 732 King Edward and foure other were appareled in cloth of Golde. 1611 Bible 2 Mac. v. 2 There were seene horsemen running in the aire, in cloth of golde. 1876 Rock Text. Fabr. 12 Costly cloth-of-gold webs were wrought. 1879 Jefferies Wild Life in S. County 144 The cloth-of-gold thrown over it by the buttercups. 1881 Truth 19 May 686/1 The train..was covered with hand-wrought embroidery, the material being cloth of silver. Mod. Chairs covered with leather or American cloth. |
10. Phrases.
to cut the coat according to the cloth: to adapt oneself to circumstances, keep within the limits of one's means (see
cut).
† the cloth is all of another hue: the case is totally different.
† to bring to cloth: to accomplish, finish.
to cut (etc.) out of (the) whole cloth: see
whole cloth b. And other proverbial expressions.
| c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 42 We ben bigilid alle wiþ oure lyst. Þe clooþ is al of anothir hew. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 16, I shall Cut my cote after my cloth. Ibid. 76 It is a bad clothe that will take no colour. 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. Argt. of 6th Hist., The King..Began to love, who for he was a King, By little sute this match to cloth did bring. 1639 Fuller Hist. Holy Warre (1647) 177 This rent (not in the seam but whole cloth) betwixt these Churches was no mean hindrance to the Holy warre. 1883 C. Reade Many a Slip in Harper's Mag. Dec. 134/2 We can all cut our coat according to our cloth. |
III. As wearing apparel. [
OE. had plural
cláðas: see ]
† 11. collect. Clothing, raiment, vesture, dress. (
no pl.)
Obs.| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 37 Gif he ne mei don elmesse of claðe ne of mete. c 1200 Ormin 3208 Hiss claþ wass off ollfenntess hær. a 1225 Ancr. R. 192 Uor ᵹe ne þencheð nowiht of mete, ne of cloð. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 37 Siþ lyf is more þan mete and mannis bodi more þan cloiþ. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. v. 303 Mete and drinke, hous and clooth. 1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C. v/1, I ask..onely cloth and foode. 1533 Gau Richt Way (1887) 14 Meit and claith and oder neidful thingis. 1563 Homilies ii. Rogat. Week iii. (1859) 492 He [God] shall be bread and drink, cloth, physicians, comfort; he shall be all things to us. 1574 Wills & Inv. N.C. (1835) 403 The said Mighall shall fynde my syster Elsabethe mete drynk and clothe. c 1620 Convert Soule in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 90 My food and cloth are most divine. 1816 Scott Antiq. xi, Gentle folks..hae..fire and fending, and meat and claith. |
† 12. A (single) garment, robe, coat (
= Ger. ein kleid,
Du. een kleed).
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 4217 Of him [Joseph] has beistes made þair prai; þis es his clath, þat es well sene. Ibid. 16201 A purprin clath [v.r. cleth] þai on him kest, And gain to pilate broght. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1328 Dido, A cloth he lafte..Whan he from Dido stal. 1388 Wyclif Ps. ci. 27 [cii. 26] Alle schulen wexe eelde as a clooth [1382 clothing, Vulg. vestimentum]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xi. 193 The catel þat crist hadde þre cloþes hit were. |
(Senses 13–15
are also closely related to sense 9.)
† 13. The distinctive clothing worn by the servants or retainers of a master, or by members of the same profession; livery, uniform. Also
fig.| 1598 Florio Ep. Ded. 4 The retainer..to weare your Honors cloth. 1608–11 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vows iii. §21 Many weare Gods cloth, that know not their Master, that never did good chare in his service. 1617 Assheton Jrnl. (1848) 8 To weore his clothe and attend him..at ye Kings comming. 1740 Life Mrs. Davies in Defoe's Wks. (1840) 265 I told him the action..made him unworthy of the king's cloth. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xxii. (1865) 169, I reverence..these almost clergy imps [little sweeps] who sport their cloth without assumption. |
14. a. Hence: One's profession (as marked by a professional garb);
cf. coat.
| 1634 Sanderson Serm. II. 289 Objecting to you [magistracy] your place, to us [ministry] our cloath: ‘A man of his place, a man of his cloath, to do thus or thus!’ As if any Christian man, of what place, or of what cloath soever, had the liberty to do otherwise than well. 1716 Addison Drummer iii. vi. (Hoppe), Gentlemen of our cloth [menservants]. 1857 Parry Mem. Adm. Parry (1859) 67 (Hoppe) A man of our cloth [a naval officer]. |
b. esp. applied to the profession of a clergyman or minister of religion.
| 1634 [see prec.]. c 1685 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Conf. Wks. 1705 II. 57 Neither you, nor any of your Cloth will ever gain that point upon me. 1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. ii. viii. 80 My Affection to the Black-Coats of mine own Cloth. 1772 Mackenzie Man World i. viii. (1823) 428 Annesly's cloth protected him from this last inconvenience. 1787 G. Gambado Acad. Horsem. (1809) 12 note, An honour to his cloth—is applied to many a drunken Parson; and I do not see why. 1833 Marryat P. Simple i, Like all orthodox divines, he was tenacious of the only sensual enjoyment permitted to his cloth. 1869 Parkman Disc. Gt. West x. (1875) 128 Out of respect for his cloth. |
15. a. the cloth (
colloq.): the clerical profession; the clergy; the office of a clergyman.
| 1701 Swift Mrs. Harris's Petition, You know, I honour the cloth; I design to be a parson's wife. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxxi, What did I do but get..a true priest and married them both as fast as the cloth could make them. 1848 Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxvii. (D.), I don't care to own that I have a respect for the cloth. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xiii. (1878) 272 That execrable word cloth—used for the office of a clergyman. |
b. used of other professions.
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones ix. vi. (D.), I did not mean to abuse the cloth [the military profession]. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xliii, I maintain that that 'ere song's personal to the cloth..I demand the name o' that coachman. |
16. transf. Covering, skin, ‘coating, coat’.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xlii. (1495) 159 The guttes ben clothed in tweyne full subtyl clothes..and that is nedfull for yf the one were greuyd the other clothe maye helpe. 1666 Pepys Diary 2 Nov., I also did buy some apples and pork: by the same token, the butcher commended it as the best in England for cloath and colour. |
IV. attrib. and
Comb. 17. attrib. or as adj. Made of cloth, of or pertaining to cloth; connected with cloth and its manufacture. (Formerly often hyphened.)
| 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 222 They were a plaine paire of Cloth-breeches. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 51 A cloth-cloake was lighter for summer. 1773 Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 514 Serges, frizes, druggets, cloth-serges, shalloons, or any other drapery stuffs. 1831 G. Porter Silk Manuf. 224 The woven cloth..wound on the cloth roll. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 552/2 This..process in the cloth manufacture. 1862 H. Spencer First Princ. ii. xiv. (1875) 318 The growth of the Yorkshire cloth-districts at the expense of those in the West of England. 1864 Times 6 Nov., Black cloth clothes that are too far gone..are always sent abroad to be cut up to make caps. 1882 Beck Drapers Dict. s.v., This fair came to be a great cloth market, and the place in which it was held is still known as Cloth Fair. 1888 A. J. Balfour in Times 2 Oct. 10/5 If you think that the cloth coat ought to be treated differently from the frieze coat. |
18. General comb.:
a. attributive (and
obj. genit.), as
cloth-cutter,
cloth-factor,
cloth-mercer,
cloth-press,
cloth-presser,
cloth-stretcher,
cloth-teaseler,
cloth-web, etc.;
cloth-cropping,
cloth-cutting,
cloth-drying,
cloth-folding,
cloth-smoothing, etc.;
b. instrumental, as
cloth-covered,
cloth-cut,
cloth-faced,
cloth-sided adjs.| 1773 Gentl. Mag. XLIII. 399 The cloth-cut velvet. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 40 Shall we tremble before clothwebs and cobwebs? 1839 ― Chartism viii. 168 The Saxon kindred burst forth into cotton-spinning, cloth-cropping. 1851 H. Melville Whale viii. 42 The perpendicular parts of the side ladder..were of cloth-covered ropes. 1854 Thackeray Newcomes I. 13 He was taken into the house of Hobson Brothers cloth-factors. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 421 The cloth-cutter..cuts up the corresponding numbers of covers of the dimensions proper for the book. 1875 W. S. Hayward Love agst. World 9 Your worthy ancestor, the cloth-mercer of Cheapside. 1884 T. C. Hepworth Photogr. for Amateurs 58 The cloth-faced back is then inserted. 1925 Mallory in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 233 My cloth-sided shoes. |
19. Special comb.:
cloth-binding, book-binding in cotton cloth, embossed silk, etc., as distinct from binding in leather;
cloth-board (see
board n. 4);
cloth-bound a. (see
bound ppl. a.
2 8);
cloth cap, a cap made of cloth; also
attrib.,
esp. in sense ‘of or pertaining to the working class’; hence
cloth-capped adj.;
† cloth-colour: see
quots. (it has been conjectured to be drab or self-colour);
† cloth-drawer, a workman who ‘draws’ or tenters the woollen cloth;
cloth-dresser, a workman who dresses,
i.e. teasels and shears woollen cloth; so
cloth-dressing;
† cloth-driver, ? one who combs or teasels cloth;
cloth ears colloq., (a person with) a poor sense of hearing; hence
cloth-eared adj.;
cloth-hall, a hall, or exchange, where sellers and buyers of woollen cloths meet at stated times to transact business;
cloth-head colloq., a thick-head;
cf. clot-head (
clot n. 7); so
cloth-headed a., thick-headed;
cloth-laying, the laying of a cloth for dinner, etc.;
cloth-looker, one who examines cloth in order to detect faults arising in manufacture;
† cloth-man, a maker or seller of woollen cloth; a clothier;
cloth-market, (
a) a market for cloth, (
b)
humorous for ‘bed’;
cloth-measure, the lineal measure used for cloth, in which the yard is divided into quarters and nails (sixteenths);
† cloth-mulberry, the Paper Mulberry
Broussonetia papyrifera, of the bark of which the South Sea Islanders make clothing;
cloth-paper, a coarse paper used to lay between the folds in pressing and finishing woollen cloths;
cloth-prover, a magnifying-glass used to count the threads in a piece of cloth;
† cloth-rash, a kind of
rash (
q.v.) made of wool;
cloth-shearer, a cloth-worker, who shears off the superfluous nap on woollen cloth after teaseling; a machine for doing this; so
cloth-shearing;
† cloth-stone, asbestos;
cloth-tenter (see
tenter n.1 1);
† cloth-thicker, name given to a fuller;
† cloth-tree = cloth-mulberry;
† cloth-walk v., to full cloth,
cf. Germ. walken;
† cloth-writt, ?
= cloth-wright, cloth-worker. Also
cloth-maker, -sack, -worker, -yard.
| 1832 *Cloth boards [see board n. 4]. 1845 Penny Cycl. Suppl. I. 220/1 Most persons who purchase books are aware that, if in ‘boards’ or ‘cloth-boards’, the top edges of the sheets, although placed level, are uncut. 1888 C. T. Jacobi Printer's Vocab. 23 Books when bound in cloth cases are described as being in ‘cloth boards’. |
| 1860 Leisure Hour 16 Aug. 526/1 This mode of sewing books on tapes has of late years been adopted by the best London binders for *cloth-bound volumes. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 15 July 12/2 The published price..will be..is. net cloth-bound. 1968 W. Dawson Catal. 79 Physical Society: Proceedings..Vols. 1–3, 11 cloth bound. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 369 The black suits..are to be cut up and made into new *cloth caps for young gentlemen. 1903 Daily Chron. 9 Dec. 9/7 (Advt.), Woman (Young) wanted for cloth cap cutting. 1959 Manchester Guardian 24 July 6/6 In the..scheme..expressly designed to appeal to the ‘cloth-cap investor’, the salaried staff have bought more shares than the payroll workers. |
| 1935 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Dec. 857/4 The *cloth-capped artisans. 1967 G. North Sgt. Cluff & Day of Reckoning ii. 18 A small, cloth-capped man guiding a battery-propelled litter-cart. |
| 1681 Lond. Gaz. No. 1668/4 The one a middle siz'd man..in an old *Cloth-colour riding Coat. 1683 Ibid. No. 1866/8 A parcel of Silk, Dyed into Cloth-colours. 1704 Ibid. No. 4059/4 Lost..a Bundle of Cloth-colours and black Sowing Silk. |
| 1685 Ibid. No. 2059/4 Mr. Wall *Cloath-Drawer in Creechurch-Lane. 1720 Ibid. No. 5827/4 William Graves..Cloath-Drawer. |
| 1723 Ibid. No. 6221/3 Paul Greenwood..*Cloathdresser. |
| 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 173, I have labored, saith Grotius..for the preservation of *Clothdressing in our Countrie. Mod. Newsp., One wishful to know the state of trade with any cloth⁓dressing firm, asks how many ‘gigs’ they run. |
| 1501 Nottingham Corp. Archives No. 10 e, ro. 1 James Gelderd, *clothdryver. |
| 1912 C. Mackenzie Carnival v. 49, I wish you'd listen. Have you got *cloth ears? 1965 New Statesman 14 May 777/1 I've told you once, cloth-ears. |
| 1965 G. Melly Owning Up xl. 127 It was more difficult for a band on the road to know what was going on than for the most *cloth-eared member of provincial jazz club. |
| 1836 Encycl. Brit. s.v. Leeds, The Leeds *cloth-halls..are two, one for the sale of coloured cloths, and one for white cloths only. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 550/2 Blackwell Hall, a kind of Cloth Hall whence London dealers and merchants were supplied. |
| 1927 Wodehouse Meet Mr. Mulliner iii. 76 You've forgotten it again, you old *cloth-head! 1958 M. Kelly Christmas Egg i. 40 There was occasion only to abuse himself as a triple cloth-head. |
| 1925 Wodehouse Sam the Sudden xxvii. 233 Selling fictitious oil stock to members of the public who were one degree more *cloth-headed than himself. 1970 M. Kenyon 100,000 Welcomes xvi. 129 Those cloth-headed detectives had advised that he..say and do nothing. |
| 1596 Bp. Barlow 3 Serm. iii. 119 If thou wilt not bid them home (because *cloth-laying is costly) yet send them some sustenance. |
| 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 68 *Cloth Looker. 1927 Sunday Express 12 June 3 The clothlooker..usually reports any faults he may find. |
| 1538 in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. lxxxix. 248 There is divers *clothemen, the which I buy al their clothes that they make. 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6193/4 Powell Croft..Cloth-man. |
| 1738 Swift Polite Conversation i. (D.), Miss, your slave; I hope your early rising will do you no harm; I find you are but just come out of the *Cloth-market. |
| 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1707 The *cloth-mulberry was planted, in regular rows. |
| 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier Wks. (Grosart) XI. 239 A cloake of *cloth rash. 1611 Cotgr., Demi drap, Cloth-rash. 1714 Fr. Bk. of Rates 366 Cloth-Rash and Tamine common. |
| ? c 1530 in Froude Hist. Eng. II. 109 A poor man, and by occupation a *cloth⁓shearer. 1740 Zollman in Phil. Trans. XLI. 306 A Cloth⁓shearer in Holland. |
| 1849 C. Brontë Shirley ii, To add to his possessions..space for his *cloth-tenters. |
| c 1500 Cocke Lorell's B. (1843) 8 *Clothe thyckers, Called fullers. |
| 1777 G. Forster Voy. round World I. 352 Groves of coco, bread-fruit, apple, and *cloth-trees. |
| 1467 Ord. Worcester in Eng. Gilds (1870) 383 To dye, carde, or spynne, weve, or *cloth-walke. |
| 1597 1st Pt. Return Parnass. ii. i. 535 It was the same scipjacke that when I knockt at the dore asked what *clothwritt was there [Draper speaks]. |
▪ II. cloth, v. (
klɒθ,
-ɔː-)
[f. prec. n.] † 1. To make into cloth.
Obs.| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 161 Spaine nowe aboundeth with Wools, and the same are Clothed. Turkie hath Wools..and cloth is made..in diuers places. Ibid. II. 164 It were the greatest madnesse..to vent our wooll not clothed. 1641 W. Hakewill Libertie of Subject 93 Wool made into cloth..Wool not cloathed. |
2. To cover or line with cloth.
| 1845 Stocqueler Handbk. Brit. India (1854) 80 A Broadwood or Zeitte,..clamped and fastened and clothed, to suit the climate of the tropics. |
3. See also
clothe.