# clay

Pronunciation: say "KLAY" /kleɪ/

## Noun

1. A mineral substance of tiny silica and alumina crystals that can be molded when moist; the material of ceramics before they are fired.
   - Simple: Earth made of tiny crystals that is easy to shape when wet and is used to make pots.
   - _She set a row of red clay pots along the sunny windowsill._
   - _The potter kneaded the clay to work out the air bubbles before throwing a bowl._
2. An earthy material that can be molded or drawn out without cracking.
   - Simple: Any kind of earth that is soft and can be pressed or pulled into shape.
   - _The spade came up coated in sticky gray clay from the bottom of the ditch._
   - _Heavy clay lies under most of the valley, so the fields drain slowly after rain._
3. In tennis, a playing surface of loose mineral material such as crushed stone, brick, or shale.
   - Simple: A tennis court surface made of crushed stone, brick, or other loose rock.
   - _Groundskeepers swept and watered the clay between matches._
   - _Despite her powerful serve, she has never won a title on clay._
4. The material the human body is made of.
   - Simple: The material that a person's body is made of.
   - _The minister reminded the mourners that they, too, were shaped from the same clay._
   - _In her hymn, the body is only borrowed clay that the soul will one day leave behind._
5. A target thrown into the air for shooters to hit, also called a clay pigeon. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A target that is thrown into the air for people to shoot at.
   - _The club opens its range on Sundays for anyone who wants to try shooting clays._
   - _He missed the first clay but broke the next nine in a row._
6. Sediment particles less than 3.9 microns in diameter, as graded on the Wentworth scale.
   - Simple: In geology, tiny grains smaller than 3.9 microns across.
   - _The core sample was mostly silt, with only a small fraction of clay._
   - _Grains finer than silt are classed as clay, whatever minerals they are made of._
7. A pipe made of clay, used for smoking tobacco.
   - Simple: A pipe made of clay that people use to smoke tobacco.
   - _He tamped tobacco into the bowl of his clay and struck a match._
   - _Broken stems from old clays turn up in the river mud at low tide._
9. Land or territory belonging to a country or region, especially land that is the subject of a territorial claim.
   - Simple: The land of a country or region, especially land that countries argue about owning.
   - _Someone in the comments insisted that the entire coastline was rightful Venetian clay._
   - _“Not one inch of our clay will be given up,” he typed, only half joking._
11. A moth of the species Mythimna ferrago.
   - Simple: A kind of moth, known to scientists as Mythimna ferrago.
   - _A clay was the only new species in this morning's moth trap._
   - _Several clays settled on the white sheet below the lamp._

## Verb

8. To add clay to something, or to spread a layer of clay over it.
   - Simple: To put clay into something or spread clay over it.
   - _Growers who clay sandy ground find that it keeps moisture much longer._
   - _The builders clayed the woven hazel walls before the roof went on._
10. To purify sugar by treating it with clay.
   - Simple: To make sugar cleaner by using clay.
   - _On the larger estates, workers clayed the raw sugar before it was packed for shipping._
   - _The mill's owner hired a refiner from abroad to teach his workers how to clay sugar._

## Origin

From Middle English cley or clay, from Old English clǣġ ("clay"), which goes back through Proto-Germanic *klajjaz ("clay") to Proto-Indo-European *gley- ("to glue, paste, stick together"). It is cognate with Dutch klei, German Klei and Danish klæg ("clay"); compare Latin glūten ("glue"), the ultimate source of English glue, and Russian глина (glina, "clay"). English clag and clog are related.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/clay (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).