Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Cloth
Cloth
(klŏth; 115)
, Noun.
pl.
Cloths
(klŏthz; 115)
, except in the sense of garments, when it is Clothes
(klōthz or klōz). [OE.
clath
cloth, AS. clāþ
cloth, garment; akin to D. kleed
, Icel. klæði
, Dan. klæde
, cloth, Sw. kläde
, G. kleid
garment, dress.] 1.
A fabric made of fibrous material (or sometimes of wire, as in wire cloth); commonly, a woven fabric of cotton, woolen, or linen, adapted to be made into garments; specifically, woolen fabrics, as distinguished from all others.
3.
The distinctive dress of any profession, especially of the clergy; hence, the clerical profession.
Appeals were made to the priesthood. Would they tamely permit so gross an insult to be offered to their
cloth
? Macaulay.
The
cloth
, the clergy, are constituted for administering and for giving the best possible effect to . . . every axiom. I. Taylor.
Body cloth
. See under
– Body
. Cloth of gold
, a fabric woven wholly or partially of threads of gold.
– Cloth measure
, the measure of length and surface by which cloth is measured and sold. For this object the standard yard is usually divided into quarters and nails.
– Cloth paper
, a coarse kind of paper used in pressing and finishing woolen cloth.
– Cloth shearer
, one who shears cloth and frees it from superfluous nap.
Webster 1828 Edition
Cloth
CLOTH
, n.1.
A manufacture or stuff of wool or hair, or of cotton, flax, hemp or other vegetable filaments, formed by weaving or intertexture of threads, and used for garments or other covering and for various other purposes; as woolen cloth, linen cloth, cotton cloth, hair cloth.2.
The covering of a table; usually called a tablecloth.3.
The canvas on which pictures are drawn.4.
A texture or covering put to a particular use; as a cloth of state.5.
Dress; raiment. [See Clothes.]6.
The covering of a bed.