clay

Pluralclays (some meanings)

Formsclays, claying, clayed

1. 1
   pottery materialnoununcountable

   Earth made of tiny crystals that is easy to shape when wet and is used to make pots.

   The potter made a bowl from wet clay, then baked it until it was hard.

   Wet clay is soft, so you can press it into any shape you like.

   Note
2. 2
   sticky soilnoununcountable

   Any kind of earth that is soft and can be pressed or pulled into shape.

   The ground by the pond was full of clay that stuck to our boots.

   We dug some clay out of the yard and rolled it into little balls.

3. 3
   tennis courtnoununcountable

   A tennis court surface made of crushed stone, brick, or other loose rock.

   After an hour of tennis on clay, her white shoes were covered in red dust.

   He likes playing tennis on grass more than on clay.

   Note
4. 4
   human bodynoununcountable

   The material that a person's body is made of.

   The priest said that rich and poor are all made of the same clay.

   In the song, the singer asks God to shape his clay into something good.

   Note
5. 5
   shooting targetnouncolloquialcountable

   A target that is thrown into the air for people to shoot at.

   We spent Saturday morning shooting clays with my uncle.

   She hit the first clay, and everyone cheered.

   Note
6. 6
   tiny grainsnoununcountable

   In geology, tiny grains smaller than 3.9 microns across.

   The lab sorted the grains by size into sand, silt, and clay.

   Clay grains are much smaller than grains of sand.

   Note
7. 7
   tobacco pipenouncountable

   A pipe made of clay that people use to smoke tobacco.

   Grandpa filled his clay with tobacco and lit it.

   The old sailor sat by the fire, smoking a clay.

8. 8
   add to soilverbtransitive

   To put clay into something or spread clay over it.

   Dad clayed the bottom of the pond so it would stop leaking.

   We clay the cracks in the old barn wall every fall.

9. 9
   territorynounhumorousuncountable

   The land of a country or region, especially land that countries argue about owning.

   My brother jokes that the whole lake is rightful Canadian clay.

   In the chat, they argued for an hour about whose clay the tiny island was.

   Similarterritory, soil, land

   Note
10. 10
    clean sugarverbtransitive

    To make sugar cleaner by using clay.

    On the old farm, workers clayed the brown sugar to make it cleaner.

    Farms that could clay their sugar sold it for more money.

    Note
11. 11
    mothnouncountable

    A kind of moth, known to scientists as Mythimna ferrago.

    We found a clay resting on the kitchen window this morning.

    Two clays flew around the porch light last night.

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