clay, n. [AS. cl\'d6g; akin to LG. klei, D. klei, and perh. to AS. clām clay, L. glus, gluten glue, Gr. gloio`s glutinous substance, E. glue. Cf. Clog.].

A soft earth, which is plastic, or may be molded with the hands, consisting of hydrous silicate of aluminium. It is the result of the wearing down and decomposition, in part, of rocks containing aluminous minerals, as granite. Lime, magnesia, oxide of iron, and other ingredients, are often present as impurities. [1913 Webster]
Earth in general, as representing the elementary particles of the human body; hence, the human body as formed from such particles. [1913 Webster]
"I also am formed out of the clay." [1913 Webster]

"The earth is covered thick with other clay,
Which her own clay shall cover." [1913 Webster]

Bowlder clay. See under Bowlder. -- Brick clay, the common clay, containing some iron, and therefore turning red when burned. -- Clay cold, cold as clay or earth; lifeless; inanimate. -- Clay ironstone, an ore of iron consisting of the oxide or carbonate of iron mixed with clay or sand. -- Clay marl, a whitish, smooth, chalky clay. -- Clay mill, a mill for mixing and tempering clay; a pug mill. -- Clay pit, a pit where clay is dug. -- Clay slate (Min.), argillaceous schist; argillite. -- Fatty clays, clays having a greasy feel; they are chemical compounds of water, silica, and aluminia, as halloysite, bole, etc. -- Fire clay , a variety of clay, entirely free from lime, iron, or an alkali, and therefore infusible, and used for fire brick. -- Porcelain clay, a very pure variety, formed directly from the decomposition of feldspar, and often called kaolin. -- Potter's clay, a tolerably pure kind, free from iron.

clay, v. t.

To cover or manure with clay. [1913 Webster]
To clarify by filtering through clay, as sugar. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

clay, n.
1 a stiff sticky earth, used for making bricks, pottery, ceramics, etc.
2 poet. the substance of the human body.
3 (in full clay pipe) a tobacco-pipe made of clay.

Idiom

clay-pan Austral. a natural hollow in clay soil, retaining water after rain. clay pigeon a breakable disc thrown up from a trap as a target for shooting.

Derivative

clayey adj. clayish adj. claylike adj.

Etymology

OE cl{aelig}g f. WG

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THESAURUS

clay

Adam, Hominidae, Homo sapiens, Missouri meerschaum, acres, alluvion, alluvium, anatomy, arable land, ashes, blubber, body, bones, breeze, briar, briar pipe, butter, cadaver, calean, calumet, carcass, carrion, china, china clay, china stone, churchwarden, clod, corncob, corncob pipe, corpse, corpus, corpus delicti, crowbait, crust, cushion, dead body, dead man, dead person, decedent, dirt, dough, down, dry bones, dry land, dust, earth, eiderdown, embalmed corpse, enamel, fallen humanity, feather bed, feathers, figure, fireclay, fleece, flesh, floss, flue, fluff, flux, foam, food for worms, form, frame, freehold, generation of man, genus Homo, glaze, glebe, grassland, ground, gumbo, hominid, homo, hookah, hubble-bubble, hulk, human family, human nature, human race, human species, humanity, humankind, kaolin, kapok, land, landholdings, late lamented, le genre humain, lithosphere, man, mankind, marginal land, marl, material body, meerschaum, mire, mold, mortal flesh, mortal remains, mortality, mortals, muck, mud, mummification, mummy, nargileh, ooze, organic remains, peace pipe, person, petuntse, physical body, physique, pillow, pipe, pipe cleaner, pipe rack, plush, porcelain, porcelain clay, pudding, puff, putty, race of man, real estate, real property, refractory, refractory clay, region, regolith, relics, reliquiae, remains, rubber, satin, silk, skeleton, slime, slip, slob, slop, slosh, sludge, slush, sod, soil, soma, squash, stiff, subaerial deposit, subsoil, swansdown, swill, tenement of clay, terra, terra firma, terrain, territory, the country, the dead, the deceased, the defunct, the departed, the loved one, thistledown, tobacco pipe, tobacco pouch, topsoil, torso, trunk, velvet, water pipe, wax, woodland, wool, zephyr

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ROGET THESAURUS

clay

Materials

N materials, material, raw material, stuff, stock, staple, adobe, brown stone, chinking, clapboard, daubing, puncheon, shake, shingle, bricks and mortar, metal, stone, clay, brick crockery, compo, composition, concrete, reinforced concrete, cement, wood, ore, timber, materials, supplies, munition, fuel, grist, household stuff pabulum, ammunition, contingents, relay, reinforcement, reenforcement, baggage, means, calico, cambric, cashmere, raw, wooden, adobe.

Softness

N softness, pliableness, flexibility, pliancy, pliability, sequacity, malleability, ductility, tractility, extendibility, extensibility, plasticity, inelasticity, flaccidity, laxity, penetrability, clay, wax, butter, dough, pudding, alumina, argil, cushion, pillow, feather bed, down, padding, wadding, foam, mollification, softening, soft, tender, supple, pliant, pliable, flexible, flexile, lithe, lithesome, lissom, limber, plastic, ductile, tractile, tractable, malleable, extensile, sequacious, inelastic, aluminous, remollient, yielding, flabby, limp, flimsy, doughy, spongy, penetrable, foamy, cushiony, flaccid, flocculent, downy, edematous, oedematous, medullary, argillaceous, mellow, soft as butter, soft as down, soft as silk, yielding as wax, tender as chicken.

Land

N land, earth, ground, dry land, terra firma, continent, mainland, peninsula, chersonese, delta, tongue of land, neck of land, isthmus, oasis, promontory, highland, coast, shore, scar, strand, beach, playa, bank, lea, seaboard, seaside, seabank, seacoast, seabeach, ironbound coast, loom of the land, derelict, innings, alluvium, alluvion, ancon, riverbank, river bank, levee, soil, glebe, clay, loam, marl, cledge, chalk, gravel, mold, subsoil, clod, clot, rock, crag, acres, real estate, landsman, earthy, continental, midland, coastal, littoral, riparian, alluvial, terrene, landed, predial, territorial, geophilous, ripicolous, ashore, on shore, on land.

Corpse

N corpse, corse, carcass, cadaver, bones, skeleton, dry bones, defunct, relics, reliquiae, remains, mortal remains, dust, ashes, earth, clay, mummy, carrion, food for worms, food for fishes, tenement of clay this mortal coil, shade, ghost, manes, organic remains, fossils, cadaverous, corpse-like, unburied, sapromyiophyllous.

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