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Definition of cloth noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

cloth

noun
 
 
/klɒθ/
 
/klɔːθ/
(plural cloths
 
/klɒθs/
 
/klɔːðz/
)
Idioms
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  1.  
     [uncountable] material made by weaving or knitting cotton, wool, silk, etc.
    • woollen/cotton/linen cloth
    • a piece of cloth
    • His bandages had been made from strips of cloth.
    • the cloth industry/trade
    • a cloth bag
    see also oxford cloth
    Synonyms fabricfabriccloth ▪ material ▪ textileThese are all words for woven or knitted cotton, silk, wool, etc., used for making things such as clothes and curtains, and for covering furniture.fabric woven or knitted cotton, silk, wool, etc, used for making things such as clothes and curtains, and for covering furniture:
    • cotton fabric
    • furnishing fabrics
    Fabric is often fairly strong material, and is often used when talking about covering furniture or making curtains.    cloth fabric made by weaving or knitting cotton, wool, silk, etc:
    • His bandages had been made from strips of cloth.
    Cloth is often fairly light material, especially in a form that has not been printed, treated, or prepared for use in any way. Cloth is frequently used in talking about buying and selling woven material.    material fabric used for making clothes, curtains, etc:
    • ‘What material is this dress made of?’ ‘Cotton.’
    Material is a more general word than fabric or cloth as it has the related meaning of ‘a substance that things can be made from’. It is not used when it might not be clear which type of material is meant: furnishing material • the material industry • a material manufacturer     textile any type of fabric made by weaving or knitting:
    • He owns a factory producing a range of textiles.
    • the textile industry
    Textile is used mostly when talking about the business of making woven materials. The industry of making textiles is called textiles: He got a job in textiles.     Patterns
    • woven/​cotton/​woollen fabric/​cloth/​material/​textiles
    • synthetic fabric/​material/​textiles
    • printed fabric/​cloth/​textiles
    • curtain/​dress fabric/​material
    Extra Examples
    • a jacket made from woollen cloth
    • She works in the cloth trade.
    • They used to export cotton cloth.
    Topics Clothes and Fashionb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • coarse
    • fine
    • woven
    • …
    … of cloth
    • bale
    • bolt
    • length
    • …
    verb + cloth
    • make
    • produce
    • weave
    • …
    cloth + noun
    • industry
    • manufacture
    • merchant
    • …
    See full entry
  2.  
     [countable] (often in compounds) a piece of cloth, often used for a special purpose, especially cleaning things or covering a table
    • Wipe the surface with a damp cloth.
    • Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a clean cloth.
    • He gently cleaned her face with a wet cloth.
    • Wipe the table with a damp cloth.
    see also dishcloth, drop cloth, floorcloth, J-cloth™, tablecloth, tea cloth
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • soft
    • damp
    • wet
    • …
    verb + cloth
    • dampen
    • dip in something
    • moisten
    • …
    See full entry
  3. the cloth
     [singular] (literary) used to refer to Christian priests as a group
    • a man of the cloth
    4. Word OriginOld English clāth, related to Dutch kleed and German Kleid, of unknown ultimate origin.
Idioms
cut your coat according to your cloth
  1. (saying) to do only what you have enough money to do and no more
    • We wanted to buy a bigger house than this but it was a case of cutting our coat according to our cloth.
See cloth in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee cloth in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: cloth

Nearby words

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adjective
 
 
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