clothes
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the sheets and blankets used on a bed.
the coverings of a bed, such as sheets, blankets, and quilts. Often used in the compound form 'bedclothes'.
Simple“He pulled the clothes up to his chin to stay warm during the cold night.”
In context“The nurse carefully straightened the clothes on the patient's bed to ensure maximum comfort during the recovery period.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
items that have been washed and are ready to be dried.
laundry items, specifically when being processed or hung out to dry.
Simple“It started to rain, so I had to run outside and bring the clothes in.”
In context“The backyard was filled with the scent of fresh detergent as the wet clothes flapped gently on the line in the afternoon breeze.”
clothes vs cloth vs clothing — Cloth is the raw fabric, clothes are the specific items you wear, and clothing is the general category or industry term.
From Middle English clothes, cloþes, plural of cloth, cloþ (“cloth, garment”), from Old English clāþas (“clothes”), plural of clāþ (“cloth”), equivalent to cloth + -es. Cognate with Scots clathes, claes (“clothes”), Danish klæder, Norwegian Bokmål klær, Norwegian Nynorsk klede, German Kleider.
From clothe + -s.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.