clayed

1. 1
   adjective

   Containing clay as part of its makeup, as a soil or sediment may.

   Below the topsoil lies a clayed sand that holds water through the dry months.

   Toward the valley floor, the subsoil grows more clayed and drains slowly.

   Similarclayey

   Note

   Its home is technical writing on soil and sediment, in geology and botany, where it describes ground with clay worked through it. It is gradable, so writers compare freely: soils that are wetter, more clayed and compacted. Do not read it as a verb here, since nothing has been done to the soil; the past tense of to clay means someone added clay or used it on purpose.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of clay.

   The settlers clayed the gaps between the logs to keep out the winter wind.

   The raw sugar was clayed to purify it before it was shipped.

   Note

   The verb is regular, so one spelling serves as both the past tense (the settlers clayed the gaps) and the past participle (the sugar had been clayed). It always takes an object, which makes the passive common: a thing is clayed when clay is spread on it or worked into it, or when clay is used to purify it, as with raw sugar.

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