From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishman of the clothman of the clothformalRRC a Christian priest → cloth
Examples from the Corpus
man of the cloth• For a man of the cloth to spend so much of his time there suggested all manner of things.• He was in every sense a man of the cloth.• Surely a man of the cloth wouldn't look at her with the same sort of craving as James Halden.• Smith and fellow men of the cloth conducted nocturnal sorties, gathering ammunition against the wicked.• Their seduction had long been used on men of the cloth, often with rewarding results for the cook. 