clad

1 of 5

past tense and past participle of clothe

clad

2 of 5

adjective

1
: being covered or clothed
ivy-clad buildings
clad in red silk pajamas
2
of a coin : consisting of outer layers of one metal bonded to a core of a different metal
half-dollar clad coins

clad

3 of 5

verb

clad or cladded; cladding

transitive verb

: sheathe, face
specifically : to cover (a metal) with another metal by bonding
stainless steel plates were clad with copper

clad

4 of 5

noun

1
a
: a composite material formed by cladding
b
: a clad coin
2
: cladding
specifically : the outer layer of a clad coin

clad-

5 of 5

combining form

variants or clado-
: slip : sprout
cladophyll

Examples of clad in a Sentence

Verb if the vehicles are not clad in armor, they will remain vulnerable to roadside bombs
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
One pro-Trump, Elon-Musk-fanboy account recently shared a suggestive image depicting a scantily clad Harris surrounded by multiple clones of Donald Trump; it’s been viewed 1.6 million times. Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 21 Aug. 2024 Watch on Deadline Bridges, who is the hacker and original video game character Kevin Flynn, appears as something of an apparition at the end in white clad robes. Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 9 Aug. 2024 More scantily clad men appeared on romance book covers to appeal to female readers, and the stories centered on more female protagonists who had full, complex lives outside of their romantic relationships. Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 1 Aug. 2024 Truro Architect Ray Brock built this cedar shake–clad, midcentury-modern summer home overlooking Cape Cod Bay for his family in 1952. The Week Staff, theweek, 23 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for clad 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clad.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, past participle of clothen "to clothe"

Verb

probably from clad entry 2, taken as an uninflected verb rather than an inflected form of clothe

Noun

derivative of clad entry 3

Combining form

combining form from Greek kládos "branch, sprig, frond," perhaps going back to Indo-European *kl̥dos "piece of wood" — more at holt

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1939, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1941, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of clad was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near clad

Cite this Entry

“Clad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clad. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

clad

1 of 2

past and past participle of clothe

clad

2 of 2 adjective
: being covered : wearing clothes

More from Merriam-Webster on clad

Last Updated: - Definition revised
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!