cloth

cloth
    n 1: artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or
         crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the
         curtains was light and semitransparent"; "woven cloth
         originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC"; "she measured
         off enough material for a dress" [syn: {fabric}, {cloth},
         {material}, {textile}]
    

Cloth \Cloth\ (kl[o^]th; 115), n.; pl. {Cloths} (kl[o^][th]z;
   115), except in the sense of garments, when it is {Clothes}
   (kl[=o]thz or kl[=o]z). [OE. clath cloth, AS. cl[=a][thorn]
   cloth, garment; akin to D. kleed, Icel. kl[ae][eth]i, Dan.
   kl[ae]de, cloth, Sw. kl[aum]de, 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.
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   2. The dress; raiment. [Obs.] See {Clothes}.
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            I'll ne'er distust my God for cloth and bread.
                                                  --Quarles.
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   3. The distinctive dress of any profession, especially of the
      clergy; hence, the clerical profession.
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            Appeals were made to the priesthood. Would they
            tamely permit so gross an insult to be offered to
            their cloth?                          --Macaulay.
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            The cloth, the clergy, are constituted for
            administering and for giving the best possible
            effect to . . . every axiom.          --I. Taylor.
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   {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.
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83 Moby Thesaurus words for "cloth":
      act drop, asbestos, asbestos board, backdrop, batten, boltrope,
      border, canonicals, canvas, ceremonial attire, clericals, clew,
      coulisse, counterweight, cringle, crowd of sail, curtain,
      curtain board, cyclorama, decor, drapery, drop, drop curtain,
      earing, episcopal vestments, etoffe, fabric, felt, fire curtain,
      flat, flipper, foot, fore-and-aft sail, goods, hanging, head, lace,
      leech, liturgical garments, luff, material, muslin, napery,
      plain sail, pontificalia, pontificals, press of sail, rag,
      reduced sail, reef point, reefed sail, robes, sail, scene, scenery,
      screen, side scene, silk, square sail, stage screw, stuff, tab,
      tableau, teaser, textile, textile fabric, texture, the cloth,
      tissu, tissue, tormentor, transformation, transformation scene,
      vestments, vesture, weave, web, weft, wing, wingcut, woodcut, woof,
      wool