# clothing

Pronunciation: say "KLOH-thing" US /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, UK /ˈkləʊðɪŋ/

## Noun

1. Articles, usually made of fabric, animal hair, or skin, worn to cover the human body for warmth, modesty, or fashion.
   - Simple: Things people wear to cover their bodies, stay warm, or look nice.
   - _Donations of clothing poured in after the flood destroyed homes._
   - _Protective clothing is required for everyone working in the lab._
3. The act of dressing a person, or a single occasion of doing so.
   - Simple: The act of putting clothes on a person's body.
   - _The clothing of the dancers before the show was a frantic, joyful rush._
   - _Religious ritual required the careful clothing of the priest in his vestments._
4. An outer layer of insulating material wrapped around a boiler or steam chamber to keep heat from radiating away.
   - Simple: A cover of material on the outside of a boiler that keeps heat from escaping.
   - _Engineers replaced the worn clothing around the boiler to cut heat loss._
   - _The boiler's clothing was made of a thick, non-conducting felt._

## Verb

2. Present participle and gerund of clothe. — present participle and gerund of clothe
   - Simple: Present participle and gerund of clothe. Use this -ing form when the action of dressing someone is happening now.
   - _The mission devoted its funds to feeding and clothing the poor._
   - _By clothing the actors in period costume, the director evoked a vivid sense of the era._

## Noun

5. The craft or process of manufacturing cloth. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The craft of making cloth from wool or other fibers.

## Origin

From Middle English clothing (also clathing), equivalent to clothe plus the suffix -ing. It is cognate with Dutch kleding, German Kleidung, Danish klædning and Swedish klädning, and is a doublet of the dialectal English term cleading.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/clothing (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).