clay

¹

[ kley ]

noun

1. a natural earthy material that is plastic when wet, consisting essentially of hydrated silicates of aluminum: used for making bricks, pottery, etc.
2. earth; mud.
3. earth, especially regarded as the material from which the human body was formed.
4. the human body, especially as distinguished from the spirit or soul; the flesh.
5. human character as estimated according to fineness of constitution, endowments, etc.:

   The saints and heroes seem of a different clay from most of us.

verb (used with object)

1. to treat or mix with clay; cover, daub, or fill with clay.
2. to filter through clay.

Clay

²

[ kley ]

noun

1. Bertha M. Charlotte Monica Braeme, 1836–84, English author: originator of a long series of romantic novels.
2. Cassius Marcellus, 1810–1903, U.S. antislavery leader and diplomat.
3. Cassius Marcellus, Jr., original name of Muhammad Ali.
4. Henry, 1777–1852, U.S. statesman and orator.
5. Lucius (Du·Bi·gnon) [doo-bin-, yon], 1897–1978, U.S. general.
6. a male given name.

clay

¹

/ kleɪ /

noun

1. a very fine-grained material that consists of hydrated aluminium silicate, quartz, and organic fragments and occurs as sedimentary rocks, soils, and other deposits. It becomes plastic when moist but hardens on heating and is used in the manufacture of bricks, cement, ceramics, etc figuline
2. earth or mud in general
3. poetic.
   the material of the human body

verb

1. tr to cover or mix with clay

Clay

²

/ kleɪ /

noun

1. See Muhammad Ali
   ClayCassius Cassius See Muhammad Ali
2. ClayHenry17771852MUSPOLITICS: statesmanPOLITICS: orator Henry. 1777–1852, US statesman and orator; secretary of state (1825–29)

clay

/ klā /

1. A stiff, sticky sedimentary material that is soft and pliable when wet and consists mainly of various silicates of aluminum. Clay particles are smaller than silt, having a diameter less than 0.0039 mm. Clay is widely used to make bricks, pottery, and tiles.

Derived Forms

• ˈclayey, adjective

Other Words From

• clay·like adjective
• un·clayed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of clay¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English clei, cleigh, Old English clǣg, cognate with Dutch klei, German Klei, akin to glue

Word History and Origins

Origin of clay¹

Old English clǣg; related to Old High German klīa, Norwegian kli, Latin glūs glue, Greek gloios sticky oil

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with clay , also see feet of clay .

Example Sentences

When you melt the clay, you destroy the statue but you don’t destroy the clay from which the statue is formed.

From Nautilus

The Millennium engineers called for a clay covering to protect the embankment from erosion, as well as closely monitoring the project.

From ProPublica

The water was yellowish, thick, full of clay, stinking of oil and sewage.

From Outside Online

What’s new is breaking the clay down to a nanoparticle level and getting a liquid substance that can be easily sprayed onto land.

From Singularity Hub 

He explains that the dinos had been walking on a surface of clay.

From Science News For Students

But, together, Webster, Clay, and Calhoun delayed the Civil War for 40 years.

From The Daily Beast

Clay engineered the morally indefensible Missouri Compromise.

From The Daily Beast

From the 1820s to the 1850s, the upper house was dominated by Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John Calhoun.

From The Daily Beast

It just changed into something quite dark and unattractive with Clay, and was a unique moment in my artistic career.

From The Daily Beast

Horace was athletic and clever, known, probably apocryphally, as the fastest cotton picker in Clay County.

From The Daily Beast

The British had fired 143 cannon shot into the fort before the arrival of Gen. Clay.

From Project Gutenberg

Only the laborers on the plantations smoke small clay pipes.

From Project Gutenberg

They use those with long, straight stems, and both their clay and porcelain pipes are of the finest form and finish.

From Project Gutenberg

Papier maché buttons came in with Henry Clay's patent in 1778.

From Project Gutenberg

It is the custom in the English forts to make every Indian who comes to trade, a present of a clay pipe filled with tobacco.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• brick
• earth
• mud
• terra cotta