claypan

American  

[kley-pan] / ˈkleɪˌpæn /

noun

1. hardpan.

2. Australian. a shallow, normally dry depression in the ground that holds water after a heavy rain.

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claypan British  

/ ˈkleɪˌpæn /

noun

1. a layer of stiff impervious clay situated just below the surface of the ground, which holds water after heavy rain

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Etymology

Origin of claypan

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; clay + pan ¹

Example Sentences

A colleague had mistakenly taken them to a site they'd never visited before, a nondescript-looking claypan lost among the pale dunes in the Willandra Lakes region of far western New South Wales.

From Time Magazine Archive

And the claypan, as it’s called, has to be carefully engineered so that it will drain properly and also keep the plants submerged at the optimum level.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Camped on claypan with little and bad water.

From McKinlay's Journal of Exploration in the Interior of Australia by McKinlay, John

SEE     Upfield, Arthur W.   Wings above the claypan.

From U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1970 July - December by Library of Congress. Copyright Office

The ground was at first hard and even like the bottom of a claypan, but at a mile or so, we came on cracked earthy ground, intersected by numberless small channels running in all directions.

From Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia by Wills, William John