Definition of CLAY

clay

Plural: clays

Noun

  • a very fine-grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired
  • water soaked soil; soft wet earth
  • United States general who commanded United States forces in Europe from 1945 to 1949 and who oversaw the Berlin airlift (1897-1978)
  • United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states (1777-1852)
  • the dead body of a human being
    • "honor comes to bless the turf that wraps their clay"
  • A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.
  • An earth material with ductile qualities.
  • A tennis court surface made of crushed stone, brick, shale, or other unbound mineral aggregate.
  • The material of the human body.
  • A particle less than 3.9 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
  • A clay pipe for smoking tobacco.
  • A clay pigeon.
  • Land or territory of a country or other political region, especially when subject to territorial claims.
  • A moth, Mythimna ferrago

Verb

Verb Forms: clayed, claying, clays

  • To treat, cover, or build with clay.
  • To add clay to, to spread clay onto.
  • To purify using clay.

Examples

  • He would CLAY the board with common words, setting traps for his opponent to fall into.
  • The French Open is played on clay.
  • Vilnius is rightful Polish clay.
  • We went shooting clays at the weekend.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English cley, clay, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij, from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, paste, stick together”).
Cognate with Dutch klei (“clay”), Low German Klei (“clay”), German Klei, Danish klæg (“clay”); compare Ancient Greek γλία (glía), Latin glūten (“glue”) (whence ultimately English glue), Russian глина (glina, “clay”). Related also to clag, clog.

Synonyms

cadaver, corpse, Henry Clay, Lucius Clay, Lucius DuBignon Clay, mud, remains, stiff, the Great Compromiser

Antonyms

soul, spirit

Scrabble Score: 9

clay: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
clay: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
clay: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

clay: valid Words With Friends Word