[generally THE CLOTH], subs. (colloquial).—Primarily clergymen; the members of a particular profession. For synonyms, see DEVIL-DODGER.
1836. DICKENS, Pickwick Papers (about 1827), p. 363 (ed. 1857). ‘I maintain that that ’ere song’s personal to THE CLOTH,’ said the mottle-faced gentleman.
1864. Daily Review, Nov. 3. It might have seemed more decorous to draw our illustration of the Doctor’s [Revd.] ingenuity from an incident related of two persons who have some right to be considered as in a sense belonging to THE CLOTH—The Abbess and Novice of Andouillets.
