Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CLOUT, n. [Sax. clut, a patch, a plaster, a plate, a seam or joint; Sw. klut; W. clwt, a patch, a clout; clwtiaw, to patch; Sax. gecluted, sewed together, clouted, patched; gesceod mid gecludedum scon, shod with clouted shoes. This undoubtedly signifies patched shoes, for clut in Saxon does not signify a nail. The word clout, a nail, may be from the French, clou, clouter, from L. clavus, from the root of L. claudo, cludo. Whether clouted brogues in Shakspeare signify patched shoes or shoes studded with nails, let the critic determine. Such shoes are common in England, and were formerly worn in America. The primary sense is, to thrust or put on; hence the sense of blow.]

1. A patch; a piece of cloth or leather, &c., to close a breach.
2. A piece of cloth for mean purposes. – Spenser.
3. A piece of white cloth, for archers to shoot at. [Not now used.] – Shak.
4. An iron plate on an axle-tree, to keep it from wearing.
5. [Fr. clou, clouter.] A small nail.
6. In vulgar language, a blow with the hand. – New England. Chalmers.