clothes

clothes, n. pl.
  (kləʊðz)
  Forms: 1 cláðas, 2–3 claþes, 3–4 cloþes, 3– clothes, 6–8 cloaths, (north. 3–6 clathes, -is). Also 5–6 (dial. –9) close, (5 cloysse, 6 cloese, 7–8 cloes; 5 north. clase, Sc. 6 clais, 8 clayis, 8–9 claise, claes; also 4–5 clethis, clese.
  [The original plural of cloth:—OE. clá-ðas, ME. clō-thes; the ō remaining in the (originally) open syllable, and the þ becoming ð between vowels, as in clothe vb., clothing, etc., and subsequently changing final s to z: cf. truth, truths, staff, staves, etc. As the singular cloth is not now used in the sense of ‘a garment’, and has received a new plural cloths for its extant sense, clothes remains a collective plural, without a singular; to express the latter, a phrase, such as ‘article of clothing’, or another word, such as ‘garment’, is used.
  The distinction cloths, clothes, is chiefly of the 19th c. The ordinary 18th c. spelling was cloaths (pronounced with ð), as in cloath = clothe vb.
  Almost immediately after the reduction of the ME. dissyllabic form to one syllable, by change of -es to -s, the ð began to disappear in pronunciation in all the dialect types, as shown by the spellings close, cloes, etc. (from clothes), clase, clais(e, claes, etc. (from north. clathes), clese (from clethes). These forms are still dialectal, and close (kləʊz) is frequent as a vulgar or careless pronunciation of clothes. All these phenomena are paralleled in other Germanic dialects, e.g. MHG. kleit, pl. kleider, MDu. cleet, pl. clêde, EFris. klêd, pl. klêr (for klêder), WFris. klaed, pl. klean, NFris. klâid, pl. klûe, Saterland klâth, pl. klôder, Wangeroog klêt, pl. klôder.
  Examples of the reduced plural:
  c 1400 Destr. Troy 774 Vppon clese. c 1460 Towneley Myst., Jacob 46 Mete and foode And close to body. 1516 Plumpton Corr. Introd. 124 To beare the charge of hir close. 1553 Inv. Ch. Goods, Staff. in Ann. Dioc. Lichf. (1863) 16, ij alter close. 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 26 Warme cloese. 1673 Overseer's Acc. in Canterb. Press 27 June 7/3 To Mr. frind for cloes for willan parker. 1729 Swift Grand Question Debated 138 Molly and I have thrust in our nose To peep at the Captain in all his fine clo'es. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg., Sir Rupert v, Cover'd ankles and toes, In other respects she was scanty of clothes.]
  1. a. Covering for the person; wearing apparel; dress, raiment, vesture.

c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xvii, Wæpnu, and mete, and ealo, and claþas. c 1000 Ags. Ps. xliv. 10 [xlv. 8] Myrre, and gutta, and cassia dropiað of þinum claðum [Vesp. Ps. hreᵹlum]. c 1205 Lay. 2367 Muchel col, and claðes inowe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 14 Of ower cloðes [v.r. claðes] & of swuche þinges ase ðer abuten ualleð. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 566 Cope & oþer cloþes. a 1300 Cursor M. (Gött.) 15025 Sum þan kest þair clethes dune. 1388 Wyclif Matt. xxii. 12 Freend, hou entridist thou hidir withut bride clothis? 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour F vj, She..arayed her with clothes of gold and flourynge of ryche ermynes. 1513 More Rich. III, (1641) 192 Cloathes of gold. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 636 Thair lynning claithis. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 229 Maister, ha's my fellow Tranio stolne your cloathes? 1676 C. Hatton in Hatton Corr. (1878) 128 All y⊇ Guards in new cloths. 1736 Fielding Pasquin ii. i, Provided I wear fine cloaths. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physic (1765) Introd. 21 The fewer Cloaths any one uses, the hardier he will be. 1808 A. Parsons Trav. iii. 51 Being Sunday, everybody had their holiday cloaths on. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. xi, The essence of all Science lies in the Philosophy of Clothes. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Wealth Wks. (Bohn) II. 68 A coarse logic rules throughout all English souls:—if you have merit, can you not show it by your good clothes, and coach and horses?

fig. 1655 Earl of Orrery Parthen. (1676) 8 But not to dress a true story in cloaths of a Romance.

  b. Often in comb. with a substantive or adj. indicating purpose, etc., as bed-clothes, body-clothes, church-clothes, swaddling-clothes, etc. (See under these words.)

a 800 Corpus Gloss. 623 Cunae, cild claðas. 1585 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 20 Washinge the churche clothes, vd.

  c. spec. Applied to linen and other clothing which is periodically washed. (See also combinations.)

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. x. x. (1495) 379 Asshes..helpyth to wasshynge of clothes. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iii. v. 100 To carry mee in the name of foule Cloathes to Datchet-lane. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 68 When there is but little moisture in the air the clothes dry quickly. Mod. Sending the clothes to the wash. A laundress with a basket of clothes.

  † d. to be in any one's clothes: to be in his place or position, to be he. (Cf. in his coat, skin, shoes.)

1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. 20 How we would wish to be dealt with if we were in his cloathes.

  2. Short for swaddling-clothes. (Cf. clouts.)

c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 5 Laid in a crybe and lapped in clathis. 1382 Wyclif Luke ii. 7 Sche childide her firste born sone, and wlappide him in clothis. 1541 Coverdale Old Faith Wks. 1844 I. x. 71 He [Christ] as a very man was wrapped in clothes, and laid in the crib. 1754–64 Smellie Midwif. III. 453 The ignorant nurse had demanded a fire to warm the clothes or clouts.

  3. Short for bed-clothes.

a 1300 Cursor M. 8599 (Cott.) Þair clathes [Trin. beddyng] was sa gnede and fa. 1463 Bury Wills (Camd. Soc.) 23 The clothes of myn that longe to y⊇ bedde that she hath loyen in. 1563 Richmond. Wills (1853) 167 Ye cloiths of ye geste bede. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iii. 24 So a bad me lay more Clothes on his feet. c 1720 Prior Poems (J.), She turned each way her frighted head Then sunk it deep beneath the clothes. 1801 Jane Austen Let. 5 May (1952) 123, I have been awake ever since five and sooner; I fancy I had too much clothes over me.

  ¶ For clothes, cloath(e)s = cloths, see cloth.
  4. attrib. and Comb., as clothes-broker, clothes-chest, clothes-monger, clothes-rack, clothes-spoiling, clothes-swimming, clothes-thatch, etc.; clothes-bag, -basket, a receptacle for clothes, etc., esp. those for the wash; clothes-conscious a., aware of, or (inordinately) interested in, clothes; clothes-dummy, a lay figure used to exhibit clothing on; clothes-hanger = coat-hanger (coat n. 14); clothes-line, -rope, a cord or wire on which to hang out washed clothes to dry; clothes-louse, a species of louse which infests the clothes of the uncleanly, a body-louse; clothes-maid = clothes-maiden; clothes-maiden (dial.) = clothes-horse; clothes-man, a dealer in clothes, esp. cast-off or second-hand clothes; clothes-peg, -pin, a forked wooden peg used to fasten linen on a clothes-line; clothes-pole U.S., a clothes-prop; clothes-post, -prop, a post, or prop for a clothes-line; clothes-screen, a clothes-horse; clothes-sense (see sense n. 11 c); clothes-stick, -tongs, a stick or tongs used by washerwomen for turning or lifting linen while boiling; clothes stop Naut., a stop (see stop n.² 10 a) used to hang up clothes after washing, or to tie up bundles of clothes; clothes-wringer, a machine for wringing or straining the water out of washed clothes. Also clothes-brush, -horse, -moth, -press.

1834 Knickerbocker III. 81 The crew were disposed in various groups about the deck,..some with their *clothes-bags beside them. 1879 E. Garrett House by Works I. 78 The discarded collar and cuffs of yesterday were already in the clothes-bag.

c 1806 D. Wordsworth Tour Scotl. in Jrnls. (1941) I. 409 Little John asleep in the *clothes-basket by the fire. 1828 J. W. Croker in Croker Papers (1884) I. xiii. 404 Put into the dirty clothes basket.

1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. vi, That happy middle-state, which leaves to the *clothes-broker no hope either of sale or of purchase.

1928 Daily Express 28 Dec. 11/1 While she dresses exceedingly well, she gives no impression of being a *clothes-conscious person. 1960 E. H. Gombrich Art & Illusion ix. 310 Even the most clothes-conscious woman would not..claim she can predict how a hat will suit her without having tried it on.

1871 Smiles Charac. x. (1876) 283 A *clothes-dummy at a tailor's door.

1934 Webster, *Clothes hanger. 1937 Discovery July 198/1 Behind them, as if on a giant clothes-hanger, hung three complete horses' skins.

1830 Marryat King's Own xli, I see two poles for *clothes-lines.

1853 Mrs. Gaskell Cranford ix. 166 The room being divided with great *clothes-maids, over which Crosby's men were tacking red flannel.

1884 Manch. Exam. 21 Nov. 5/4 To..hang all the clothes, etc., on stands like large *clothes-maidens to be aired and fumigated.

a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg., Merch. Ven. Moral, When they deal with old *clothesmen. 1868 Yates Rock Ahead iii. vii, A Jew clothesman going his rounds.

1868 Sat. Rev. 24 Oct. 548/1 Pretexts invented by the art of the decorator and the *clothesmonger for making fortunes out of the folly of women.

1825 Hone Every-Day Bk. I. 701 He turned a sunbeam into a *clothes-peg.

1866 Harvard Mem. Biog. II. 21 Short sticks about as large as *clothes-pins.

1865 Atlantic Monthly XV. 659 She never conjectures to what base uses a *clothes-pole may come.

1903 Westm. Gaz. 10 Oct. 2/1 Holding out gaunt branches like spectral *clothes-props against the sky.

1857 D. H. Strother Virginia 46 He..strode out,..knocking over the *clothes-rack in his progress. 1914 Joyce Dubliners 130 Four cane chairs, a clothes-rack.

1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. I. v. Clothes have made Men of us; they are threatening to make *Clothes-screens of us. 1832 ― Remin. I. 16 The mere clothes-screens of rank.

1932 R. Lehmann Invit. Waltz iii. iv. 199 It takes a man to teach a woman how to dress. The majority of them don't develop a *clothes-sense till they've had a lover. 1960 Guardian 1 July 8/2 Anthea..has precocious clothes-sense.

1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 159 The sopping, the drying, the *clothes-spoiling, the cold-catching, and all the small evils of a summer shower.

1883 Man. Seamanship for Boys' Training Ships 7 The hammocks are stopped to the gantline by a rolling hitch, and *clothes' stops are fitted on the bight.

1881 Daily News 6 June 6/8 For those who would like to practise tumbling in the water and *clothes swimming.

1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. I. viii. These considerations of our *Clothes-thatch.

  
  
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   ▸ clothes-line n. chiefly U.S. Sport a blow across the neck (or sometimes head) with an outstretched arm (cf. clothesline v.); (Amer. Football) a tackle effected with such a blow (more fully clothes-line tackle).

1954 Nevada State Jrnl. 19 Oct. 12/3 (caption) Sharp blocking and a *clothesline tackle are demonstrated in one shot. 1993 Sat. Night (Toronto) Feb. 56/2 I'd like to see the Warrior do three or four moves in the ring... He has a clothesline..but that's it.

Oxford English Dictionary