clout

1. (informal) Influence or effectiveness, especially political.Examples: "Having relinquished his clout in City Council to run for a place on the county board, and having lost stature by reason of his failure to win the presidency, Duffy was in no position to seek the party chairmanship for himself"; "[…]ethics officers themselves often complain that they can recommend but have little clout with which to create real change."; "The chopped mushrooms add depth to both the Waitrose and the Go-Go Vegan recipe, but what gives the latter some real clout on the flavour front is a teaspoon of Marmite."countableinformaluncountable

2. (baseball, informal) A home run.Examples: "'... allowed Boston to score all of its runs on homers, including a pair of clouts by Jacoby Ellsbury ...'"countableinformaluncountable

3. (archery) The center of the butt at which archers shoot; probably once a piece of white cloth or a nail head.Examples: "For kings are clouts that euery man ſhoots at, Our Crowne the pin that thouſands ſeeke to cleaue."; "A’ must shoot nearer or he’ll ne’er hit the clout."countableuncountable

4. (regional, dated) A swaddling cloth.Examples: "When a new-hatched savage running wild about his native woodlands in a grass clout, followed by the nibbling goats, as if he were a green sapling; even then, in Queequeg’s ambitious soul, lurked a strong desire to see something more of Christendom than a specimen whaler or two."countabledatedregionaluncountable

5. (archaic) A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag.Examples: "His garment nought but many ragged clouts, / With thornes together pind and patched was, / The which his naked sides he wrapt abouts;"; "If I were mad, I ſhould forget my ſonne, / or madly thinke a babe of clowts were he; I am not mad: too well, too well I feele / The different plague of each clamitie."; "[…] a clout upon that head Where late the diadem stood […]"archaiccountableuncountable

6. (archaic) An iron plate on an axletree or other wood to keep it from wearing; a washer.Examples: "Clouts were thin and flat pieces of iron, used it appears to strengthen the box of the wheel; perhaps also for nailing on such other parts of the cart as were particularly exposed to wear."archaiccountableuncountable