cloth

noun7

1. •
   soft flat material made from fine threads crossed over and under, used for shirts and bags

   • In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the least elastic materials, and covered with cloth externally. — 1820
2. •
   Specifically, a tablecloth, especially as spread before a meal or removed afterwards.

   • One day he came, as I thought accidentally, to dinner. My husband was very much engaged in business, and quitted the room soon after the cloth was removed. — 1798
3. •
   A piece of cloth used for a particular purpose.

   • The stole is a long scarf-like cloth that hangs around the neck, over the shoulders and down the front of bishops and priests [generally, two-four inches across]. — 2004
4. •
   The priesthood.

   • He is a respected man of the cloth.
5. •
   A form of attire that represents a particular profession or status.

   • But he could not come in the white cloth of celebration to a burial service, and he could hardly come in the cloth of mourning to celebrate his two decades on the stool. — 1993
6. •
   (figurative) Substance or essence; the whole of something complex.

   • . If we look beyond the chaos of each moment, we cannot help seeing that we are but one glorious thread in the cloth of life. — 2001
7. •
   (figurative) Appearance; seeming.

   • Unbelievably, he smiled through his cracked and bleeding lips. A horrible nightmare cloaked in the cloth of good. — 2007