# clough

> English word · Noun · IPA /klʌf/ · frequency rank #33,578

## Definitions
1. A narrow valley; a cleft in a hillside; a ravine, glen, or gorge.
2. A sluice used in returning water to a channel after depositing its sediment on the flooded land.
3. The cleft or fork of a tree; crotch.
4. A wood; weald.

## Etymology
From Middle English clough, clow, cloȝ, from Old English *clōh, from Proto-Germanic *klanhaz, *klanhō (“cleft, sluice, abyss”), of uncertain origin, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to form into a ball”).
Cognate with Scots cleuch (“gorge; ravine”), Old High German klāh (in placenames), Old High German klingo, klinga (“brook, cataract, gulf, rapids”). Perhaps conflated or influenced by Old Norse klofi (“a cleft or rift in a hill, ravine”); compare Dutch kloof (“a slit, crevice, chink”). See also cling, clove.

## Easily confused with
- **couch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clough-vs-couch)
- **cough** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clough-vs-cough)
- **clout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clough-vs-clout)
- **crouch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clough-vs-crouch)
- **clog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clog-vs-clough)
- **cloud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cloud-vs-clough)
- **cloth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cloth-vs-clough)
- **clouds** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clouds-vs-clough)
- **cloudy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cloudy-vs-clough)

## Common misspellings (9)
`cclough`, `cllough`, `cloguh`, `clouggh`, `cloughh`, `clouhg`, `cluogh`, `colugh`, `lcough`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/clough