clod

American  

[klod] / klɒd /

noun

• clods
  plural

1. a lump or mass, especially of earth or clay.

2. a stupid person; blockhead; dolt.

   Synonyms:

   dunce, oaf, lout, yokel, boor

3. earth; soil.

4. something of lesser dignity or value, as the body as contrasted with the soul.

   this corporeal clod.

5. a part of a shoulder of beef.

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clod British  

/ klɒd /

noun

1. a lump of earth or clay

2. earth, esp when heavy or in hard lumps

3. Also called: clodpole.   clod poll.   clodpate.  a dull or stupid person

4. a cut of beef taken from the shoulder

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cloddiness
  noun
• cloddishness
  noun
• cloddish
  adjective
• cloddy
  adjective
• clodlike
  adjective
• cloddily
  adverb
• cloddishly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• clods
  plural

Etymology

Origin of clod

1400–50; late Middle English clodde, Old English clod- (in clodhamer fieldfare); see cloud

Explanation

A clod is a lump or chunk of something. You begin the process of making a bowl by throwing a clod of clay onto a potter's wheel. Clod usually describes a mass or ball of dirt: "She intended to plant vegetables in her yard, but found the soil was full of hard clods and stones." An annoyingly awkward person can also be called a clod: "He always says the wrong thing — he's such a clod." The word comes from clot, which originally meant "a mass," and comes from the German Klotz, "lump or block."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clod clods

Whether it's a twig, a pebble or a clod of dirt, the randomness you get on a large scale is the same.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024

To be fair, there is more to Johnson's story than him simply being a clod when it came to dogs.

From Salon ● May 20, 2023

Like most of Crumbl’s offerings, it was plump, doughy, intensely sweet and topped with a thick clod of frosting.

From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2023

The one of Rizzo, which was taken down on June 2, makes him look like a misshapen clod in an awkwardly buttoned jacket.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2020

An iron drab and a silver talent, a stone and a piece of fruit, two bricks, a clod of earth and one of the donkeys.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Digging in soggy conditions can damage a soil’s structure, creating impenetrable clods that hinder roots.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 11, 2023

It might form big clods that damage the crop or cut it into pieces.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2022

But in eight weeks, I fear Boorish clods will appear Dressed as pathogens for Halloween.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 3, 2020

When it comes to mitigating climate change, soil scientists are most interested in what Silver calls occluded carbon — organic material, often in the form of dead microbes, trapped in clods of dirt.

From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2018

Taran shouted at her, but the clods continued flying at a great rate.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

Related Words

• clodpoll