Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
cloy — cloy; cloy·ing; cloy·less; cloy·some; cloy·ing·ly; cloy·ing·ness; … English syllables
Cloy — (kloi), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cloyed} (kloid); p. pr. & vb. n. {Cloying}.] [OE. cloer to nail up, F. clouer, fr. OF. clo nail, F. clou, fr. L. clavus nail. Cf. 3d {Clove}.] 1. To fill or choke up; to stop up; to clog. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] The… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
cloy — [ klɔı ] verb intransitive to make you feel sick or annoyed by being too sweet or too pleasant: The smell of her cheap perfume soon began to cloy. ╾ cloy|ing [ klɔııŋ ] adjective: the movie s cloying sentimentality … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
cloy — [klɔı] v [I] if something sweet or pleasant cloys, it begins to annoy you because there is too much of it ▪ Her sweet submissive smile began to cloy after a while … Dictionary of contemporary English
cloy — (v.) weary by too much, fill to loathing, surfeit, 1520s, from M.E. cloyen hinder movement, encumber (late 14c.), aphetic of accloyen (early 14c.), from O.Fr. encloer to fasten with a nail, grip, grasp, figuratively to hinder, check, stop, curb,… … Etymology dictionary
cloy — vb *satiate, sate, surfeit, pall, glut, gorge Antonyms: whet Contrasted words: stimulate, pique, excite, *provoke … New Dictionary of Synonyms
cloy — [v] overfill disgust, fill, glut, gorge, jade, nauseate, pall, sate, satiate, satisfy, sicken, stall, stodge, suffice, surfeit, weary; concept 740 … New thesaurus
cloy — [kloi] vt., vi. [aphetic < ME acloien, to hamper, harm, obstruct < OFr encloyer, to fasten with a nail, hinder < clou, a nail < L clavus, nail: see CLOSE2] to surfeit, or make weary or displeased, by too much of something, esp.… … English World dictionary
cloy — UK [klɔɪ] / US verb [intransitive] Word forms cloy : present tense I/you/we/they cloy he/she/it cloys present participle cloying past tense cloyed past participle cloyed to make you feel sick or annoyed by being too sweet or too pleasant The… … English dictionary
cloy — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. glut, satiate, surfeit, sate; pall, bore. See sufficiency, weariness. II (Roget s IV) v. Syn. satiate, surfeit, suffice, pall; see satisfy 1 , weary 1 . See Synonym Study at satiate . III (Roget s 3… … English dictionary for students
cloy — [14] Cloy originally meant ‘fasten with a nail’. It is a reduced form of the long obsolete acloy, which came from Anglo Norman acloyer. This was a variant of Old French encloyer, a descendant of the Vulgar Latin compound verb inclāvāre, based on… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
