clayn.
/kleɪ/, U.S. /kleɪ/ 1.
a. A stiff viscous earth found, in many varieties, in beds or other deposits near the surface of the ground and at various depths below it: it forms with water a tenacious paste capable of being moulded into any shape, which hardens when dried, and forms the material of bricks, tiles, pottery, and ‘earthenware’ generally.Clay consists mainly of aluminium silicate, and is derived mostly from the decomposition of feldspathic rocks. The various beds are distinguished geologically as boulder clay, Kimmeridge clay, London clay, Oxford clay, Purbeck clay, etc. Particular kinds of clay are known as brick clay, fatty clay, plastic clay, porcelain clay, and potter's clay; pipe-clay, etc. Cf. fireclay n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > clay > [noun]
loamc725
clayc1000
glaye1575
cloom1609
cledge1724
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > clay > [noun]
clayc1000
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 146 Samia, clæg.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. xv. 7 Of the same clei he made..vesselis in to vse.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 11985 Of cley..made he sparewes twelue.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 80 Cley, argilla glis.
1480 W. Caxton Descr. Brit. 5 Whyte clay and reed for to make pottes, crokkes..and othir vessell.
c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxiij/1 And stoppe dilygently his [sc. an apple-tree's] wounde wyth kley.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 94v The Hasel Nuttes..delighteth in claye.
1582 in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1599) II. i. 163 We haue..for scowring our clothes earths and claies, as Walkers clay..little inferior to Sope.
1716 London Gaz. No. 5416/3 Tobacco-Pipe-Clay.
1759 S. Johnson Idler 24 Mar. 89 Incumbered with stiff clay.
1801 M. Edgeworth Prussian Vase in Moral Tales III. 3 Trying experiments upon porcelain clays.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. II. iii. xvi. §2. 108 Some soils, such as the stiff clays, are better adapted for wheat.
1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. ii. ii. 81 Pure clay..resulting from the alteration of felspars exposed to atmospheric influences, is white.
b. figurative with reference to properties and uses.
ΚΠ
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. hiiiv Clogged in the claye & slyme of vice.
c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) Ded. 2 Quhiles I stack in this claye, it pleased God to bring your Majestie hame.
1797 W. Godwin Enquirer i. viii. 74 The pupil is the clay in the hands of the artificer.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess vii. 159 Tho' he trip and fall He shall not blind his soul with clay.
c. clay-with-flints, a mixture of stiff brown or reddish clay with angular flints, found overlying chalk, esp. in southern England; extended to various types of clayflint drift deposits.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > clay > [noun] > clay with flints
clay-with-flints1861
1861 Hull & Whitaker Geol. Surv. Mem. Sheet. XIII. 55 Above the ‘clay with flints’ there is occasionally a loam or sandy clay.
1908 W. Johnson Folk Memory xi. 209 The junction of the Chalk and the overlying Clay-with-flints forms tortuous, tongue-like projections on the geological map.
1960 B. W. Sparks Geomorphol. vii. 161 The clay-with-flints, strictly speaking a mass of rusty clay with fractured flints but in practice an omnibus term covering a variety of deposits of different types.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > clay > [noun] > material of the nature of clay
claya1300
a1300 Cursor Mundi 2500 Þe fiue gaue bak..And fell to in a pitt o clay.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. xi. 3 Thei hadden..towȝ cley [a1425 L.V. pitche, 1611 slime] for syment.
c1386 G. Chaucer Canon's Yeoman's Prol. & Tale 260 Cley maad with hors or mannes her, and oyle Of tartre, alym, glas, berm, wort, and argoyle.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 312 Cleme hit [the ark] with clay comly with-inne.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 150v The toughe cleye of Babilon cauled Bitumen.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft xiv. i. 354 Claie made with horsse doong.
3. Used loosely for: Earth, moist earth, mire, mud; esp. the earth covering or enclosing a dead body when buried.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [noun]
earthOE
claya1300
grita1325
groota1400
grounda1400
loama1400
soilc1440
marl1590
terroir1653
dirt1698
dutty1873
a1300 Cursor Mundi 1080 Þe bodi mith he na gat hide..Þe clay all vp þe bodi kest.
c1300 Song Yesterd. 70 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 135 Vr careyns chaunged vndur clay.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) John ix. 6 He spette in to erthe, and made cley of the spotle.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Sam. xxii. 43 Euen as ye claye of the stretes wil I make them thynne.
1609 Euerie Woman in her Humor sig. B2 When the foole is clad in clay.
1808 W. Scott Marmion iii. xxxiii. 166 The falcon crest was soiled with clay.
1821 Ld. Byron Cain ii. i, in Sardanapalus 377 To sojourn With worms in clay.
4.
a. Earth as the material of the human body (cf. Genesis ii. 7); hence, the human body (living or dead) as distinguished from the soul; the earthly or material part of man.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > [noun]
lichamc888
bodyeOE
earthOE
lichOE
bone houseOE
dustc1000
fleshOE
utter mana1050
bonesOE
bodiȝlichc1175
bouka1225
bellyc1275
slimec1315
corpsec1325
vesselc1360
tabernaclec1374
carrion1377
corsec1386
personc1390
claya1400
carcass1406
lump of claya1425
sensuality?a1425
corpusc1440
God's imagea1450
bulka1475
natural body1526
outward man1526
quarrons1567
blood bulk1570
skinfula1592
flesh-rind1593
clod1595
anatomy1597
veil1598
microcosm1601
machine1604
outwall1608
lay part1609
machina1612
cabinet1614
automaton1644
case1655
mud wall1662
structure1671
soul case1683
incarnation1745
personality1748
personage1785
man1830
embodiment1850
flesh-stuff1855
corporeity1865
chassis1930
soma1958
the world > life > the body > bodily substance > [noun]
loamc725
flesh and fellc1000
fleshtimbera1225
flesh and blooda1340
powderc1350
substancec1350
claya1400
paste1645
corporeity1647
muscle1819
tissue1834
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 402 (MED) Al gangand best..And adam bath he wroght on clai.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Isocrates in Panoplie Epist. 190 To what purpose then, doth vaine glory inflate and puffe up..this brittle bottle framed out of clay?
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. ii. 4 Arui. Are we not Brothers? Imo. So man and man should be, But Clay and Clay, differs in dignitie. View more context for this quotation
1707 I. Watts Hymns & Spiritual Songs ii. 113 Ere we quite forsake our Clay, Or leave this dark Abode.
1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the First 8 This gross impediment of Clay remove.
1798 R. Southey St. Patrick's Purgatory in Ballads 5 Belike no living hands may pay This office to your lifeless clay.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. x. 142 Well hast thou done, frail Child of clay!
1834 A. E. Bray Warleigh I. xiv. 297 ‘Dressing the clay’—that is, decking the corpse..with various flowers.
1887 R. L. Stevenson Underwoods ii. ix. 109 They're made of a commoner clay, I suppose, Than a gentleman like me.
b. to moisten or wet one's clay: to drink. (humorous.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)]
drinkc1000
to wet (one's) whistle, weasand, mouth, beak, beardc1386
bumc1390
to wet (erron. whet) one's whistlec1405
tipple1648
to suck one's face1699
to moisten or wet one's clay1708
to water one's clay1751
1708 Brit. Apollo 12–17 Nov. We were moistening our Clay.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 72. ¶9 To moisten their Clay, and grow immortal by drinking.
1731 H. Fielding Letter-writers ii. ii. 23 How should he return to Dust Who daily wets his Clay.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. xlviii. 64 Mr. Swiveller..chanced at the moment..to be moistening his clay, as the phrase goes, rather copiously.
1864 J. R. Lowell Fireside Trav. 119 When his poor old clay was wet with gin.
c. feet of clay (cf. Dan. ii. 33 ‘his feet part of iron and part of clay’): a fundamental weakness in someone supposedly of great merit. Also occasionally limbs of clay.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > weakness of character or will
unmighteOE
frailnessa1300
infirmityc1384
debility1474
brittleness1493
brucklenessc1500
weak side1668
weakness1748
washiness1763
feebleness1809–10
enervation1849
weak-mindedness1854
feet of clay1859
will-lessness1865
bonelessness1869
molluscousness1870
limpness1873
backbonelessness1882
invertebracy1882
weak-kneedness1882
invertebrateness1884
spinelessness1920
gutlessness1936
1814 Ld. Byron Ode to Napoleon 8 Fronts of brass, and feet of clay.
1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. iii. ii. 371 But still the Earl's prosperity was hollow—the statue of brass stood on limbs of clay.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Idylls 137 They find some stain or blemish in a name of note..And judge all nature from her feet of clay.
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate I. xi. 267 The woman..finds that her golden-headed god has got an iron body and feet of clay.
1891 O. Wilde Picture of Dorian Gray xv. 269 It is the feet of clay that make the gold of the image precious.
1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (subscribers' ed.) civ. 552 I had to avoid him [sc. Allenby]..lest he show feet of clay.
1952 A. Wilson Hemlock & After iii. i. 199 Eric is sad because his idol has feet of clay.
5. The application of clay in sugar-refining. Cf. clay v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > sugar manufacture > [noun] > process in manufacture
clay1765
claying1822
striking-tache1830
potting1839
strike1847
touch proof1909
turbinage1909
1765 Universal Mag. 37 320/2 Sugar..which has gone through the operation of three clays.
6.
a. Short for clay-pipe n. at Compounds 3 (colloquial)
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > pipe > clay-pipe
fairy pipe1829
clay1863
clay-pipe1876
T.D. pipe1880
1859 F. W. Fairholt Tobacco iv. 173 Such long pipes were reverently termed aldermen in the last age, and irreverently yards of clay in the present one.]
1863 ‘Ouida’ Held in Bondage I. i. 2 Filthy bird's-eye, smoked in clays.
1871 C. S. Calverley Ode Tobacco in Verses & Transl. (ed. 4) Jones..Daily absorbs a clay After his labours.
b. Short for clay pigeon n. at Compounds 3. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > trap-shooting > [noun] > object shot at
pigeon1875
smoke-ball1881
clay pigeon1888
clay-bird1897
clay1909
1909 in Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1958 Spectator 1 Aug. 162/3 Clay pigeons simulated driven grouse and partridges... The unbroken clays curled down among the spectators.
Compounds
C1. attributive or as adj. Made or consisting of clay (literal, or in sense 4).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > clay > [adjective] > consisting of clay
clayey1024
clayena1382
argillosec1420
argillousc1420
clay?1523
clayish1570
argillaceous1731
tilly1799
pelolithic1884
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > clay > [adjective] > made of clay
clayena1382
clay?1523
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. vi Sowe thy pees vpon the cley grounde.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 205 Clay wall, paroy dargille.
1645 S. Rutherford Tryal & Trivmph of Faith (1845) 204 The weight of a saint's heaven and hell upon his own clay-shoulders.
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 205 We..may be turned out of these clay cottages at an hours warning.
1673 A. Walker Leez Lachrymans 13 The Clay Floor, Mud Wall, and Thatch.
1843 J. E. Portlock Rep. Geol. Londonderry 106 Clay galls or lumps..occur occasionally in the sandstone.
1854 E. Ronalds & T. Richardson Knapp's Chem. Technol. I. 218 Clay stoves are necessarily much more bulky than those made of iron.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Strange Case Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde 26 Is it the mere radiance of a foul soul that thus transpires through..its clay continent?
C2.
a. General attributive. With the sense ‘of or made of clay’. † clay-clot n. Obsolete
clay-ball n.
ΚΠ
1854 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1848–53 5 708 Clay-balls placed in the fire increased the amount of heat.
clay-bank n.
clay-bung n.
ΚΠ
1713 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (1743) ii. 141 The common but considerable Loss that Thousands fall under by Clay-Bungs.
clay-clod n.
ΚΠ
c1300 Relig. Songs (1843) 73 Nu lidh the clei clot al so the ston.
clay-field n.
ΚΠ
1843 Knickerbocker 22 4 Every shade of green~ness is lost in the interminable red clay-fields.
1909 Daily Chron. 11 June 5/5 The working of the extensive clayfield.
clay-miner n.
ΚΠ
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 81 Clay Miner.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 10 Feb. 7/2 The clay-miners entombed by a fall of silver-sand at Morden clay-pits, near Corfe Castle.
clay-mortar n.
clay-plug n.
ΚΠ
1846 W. Greener Sci. Gunnery (new ed.) 104 The crucible is then stopped, by covering the mouth with tempered clay..as soon as the clay-plugs are sufficiently hard, etc.
clay-soil n.
b. With the sense ‘pertaining to clay, designed to contain clay.'
(a)
clay-box n.
clay-cart n.
ΚΠ
1672–95 Brickmakers' Lament. in Roxburghe Ballads II. 474 A clay cart they got..And put Lambart in it.
clay-pea n. (sense 4.)
ΚΠ
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 193 The Burbage-grey, or popling-pea is much sowed in..Somersetshire, and there called the clay-pea.
(b)
clay-dream n.
ΚΠ
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. lxxxiv. 215 That it [our love] fasten not itself on these clay-dreams, these clay-shadows, and worldly vanities!
clay-shadow n.
ΚΠ
1637 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. lxxxiv. 215 That it [sc. our love] fasten not itself on these clay-dreams, these clay-shadows, and worldly vanities!
c. Objective.
clay-burning n.
ΚΠ
1875 Agric. Holdings Act 38 & 39 Vict. c. 92 §5 Clay-burning, claying of land, liming of land.
d. Instrumental.
(a)
clay-built adj.
ΚΠ
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. ii. 209 Our clay-built tabernacles.
clay-daubed adj.
ΚΠ
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 492 In þat cofer þat watz clay daubed.
clay-greased adj.
(b) (In sense 4.)
clay-wrapped adj.
clay-bound adj.
ΚΠ
1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 213 Thou wilt forgive, if clay-bound mind Can scarce discover that thou art.
clay-dimmed adj.
e. Similative.
clay-colour n.
ΚΠ
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie iv. xiii. 202 Another doth weare clay-colour.
clay-coloured adj.
ΚΠ
1659 O. Walker Περιαμμα Ἐπιδήμιον 5 Clay colour of old was sacred at Nuptials..and not onely Red Sandals were in use..but also Clay-coloured Shooes.
clay-like adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > clay > [adjective]
clay-likea1617
clayey1684
clayed1855
a1617 S. Hieron Penance for Sinne in Wks. (1620) II. 276 When a man is so clay-like, so stiffe to be wrought vpon.
1823 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 13 Sept. 677 Red stiff clay-like loam.
C3. Special combinations: See also clay-cold adj., clay-slate n., clay-stone n. † clay-post n. Obsolete applied to the human body. † clay-work n. Obsolete work in baked clay, pottery, etc.
clay-band n. a thin stratum or band of clay; hence clay band ironstone, an earthy variety of Chalybite, one of the commonest ores of iron.
ΚΠ
1853 Pharm. Jrnl. & Trans. 13 118 Clay-band and ball ironstone.
clay-bank n. a bank of clay; also (U.S.), a horse of a yellowish-brown clayey colour; the colour itself.
ΚΠ
1755 in L. H. Gipson Lewis Evans (1939) 172 Kentucke..has high Clay Banks.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. i. 7 [A mare] of that dun yellowish colour, known as ‘clay-bank’.
1853 Oregonian (Portland, Oregon Territory) 5 Nov. 1/6 Gitting off an' hitching his ole clay-bank to a swinging limb.
clay-bird n. = clay pigeon n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > trap-shooting > [noun] > object shot at
pigeon1875
smoke-ball1881
clay pigeon1888
clay-bird1897
clay1909
1897 Outing 30 392/1 There were several clay-bird matches.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 22 Mar. 10/1 The Stock Exchange clay-bird shooting competition.
clay-box n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1612 S. Sturtevant Metallica xiv. 97 The Press-mould consisteth of these generall parts. 1. Two clay-boxes.
clay-brained adj. dull clod-pated.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]
sloweOE
stuntc960
dullOE
hardOE
stuntlyc1000
sotc1050
dillc1175
dulta1225
simplea1325
heavy1340
astonedc1374
sheepishc1380
dull-witteda1387
lourd1390
steerishc1411
ass-likea1425
brainless?a1439
deafc1440
sluggishc1450
short-witted1477
obtuse1509
peakish1519
wearish1519
deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520
doileda1522
gross1526
headlessa1530
stulty1532
ass-headed1533
pot-headed1533
stupid?1541
sheep's head1542
doltish1543
dumpish1545
assish1548
blockish1548
slow-witted1548
blockheaded1549
surd1551
dull-headed1552
hammer-headed1552
skit-brained?1553
buzzardly1561
witless1562
log-headeda1566
assy1566
sottish1566
dastardly1567
stupidious1567
beetle-headed1570
calvish1570
bluntish1578
cod's-headed1578
grout-headed1578
bedaft1579
dull-pated1580
blate1581
buzzard-like1581
long-eared1582
dullard1583
woodena1586
duncical1588
leaden-headed1589
buzzard1592
dorbellical1592
dunstical1592
heavy-headeda1593
shallow-brained1592
blunt-witted1594
mossy1597
Bœotian1598
clay-brained1598
fat1598
fat-witted1598
knotty-pated1598
stupidous1598
wit-lost1599
barren1600
duncifiedc1600
lourdish1600
stockish1600
thick1600
booby1603
leaden-pated1603
partless1603
thin-headed1603
leaden-skulledc1604
blockhead1606
frost-brained1606
ram-headed1608
beef-witted1609
insulse1609
leaden-spirited1609
asininec1610
clumse1611
blockheadly1612
wattle-headed1613
flata1616
logger-headeda1616
puppy-headeda1616
shallow-patedc1616
thick-brained1619
half-headed1621
buzzard-blinda1625
beef-brained1628
toom-headed1629
thick-witted1634
woollen-witted1635
squirrel-headed1637
clod-pated1639
lean-souled1639
muddy-headed1642
leaden-witteda1645
as sad as any mallet1645
under-headed1646
fat-headed1647
half-witted1647
insipid1651
insulsate1652
soft-headed1653
thick-skulleda1657
muddish1658
non-intelligent1659
whey-brained1660
sap-headed1665
timber-headed1666
leather-headeda1668
out of (one's) tree1669
boobily1673
thoughtless1673
lourdly1674
logger1675
unintelligenta1676
Bœotic1678
chicken-brained1678
under-witted1683
loggerhead1684
dunderheaded1692
unintelligible1694
buffle-headed1697
crassicc1700
numbskulled1707
crassous1708
doddy-polled1708
haggis-headed1715
niddy-noddy1722
muzzy1723
pudding-headed1726
sumphish1728
pitcher-souleda1739
duncey1743
hebete1743
chuckheaded1756
dumb1756
duncely1757
imbecile1766
mutton-headed1768
chuckle-headed1770
jobbernowl1770
dowfarta1774
boobyish1778
wittol1780
staumrel1787
opaquec1789
stoopid1791
mud-headed1793
borné1795
muzzy-headed1798
nog-headed1800
thick-headed1801
gypit1804
duncish1805
lightweight1809
numbskull1814
tup-headed1816
chuckle-pate1820
unintellectuala1821
dense1822
ninnyish1822
dunch1825
fozy1825
potato-headed1826
beef-headed1828
donkeyish1831
blockheadish1833
pinheaded1837
squirrel-minded1837
pumpkin-headed1838
tomfoolish1838
dundering1840
chicken-headed1842
like a bump on a log1842
ninny-minded1849
numbheadeda1852
nincompoopish1852
suet-brained1852
dolly1853
mullet-headed1853
sodden1853
fiddle-headed1854
numb1854
bovine1855
logy1859
crass1861
unsmart1861
off his chump1864
wooden-headed1865
stupe1866
lean-minded1867
duffing1869
cretinous1871
doddering1871
thick-head1873
doddling1874
stupido1879
boneheaded1883
woolly-headed1883
leaden-natured1889
suet-headed1890
sam-sodden1891
dopey1896
turnip-headed1898
bonehead1903
wool-witted1905
peanut-headed1906
peanut-brained1907
dilly1909
torpid-minded1909
retardate1912
nitwitted1917
meat-headed1918
mug1922
cloth-headed1925
loopy1925
nitwit1928
lame-brained1929
dead from the neck up1930
simpy1932
nail-headed1936
square-headed1936
dingbats1937
pinhead1939
dim-witted1940
pea-brained1942
clueless1943
lobotomized1943
retarded1949
pointy-headed1950
clottish1952
like a stunned mullet1953
silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954
out to lunch1955
pin-brained1958
dozy1959
eejity1964
out of one's tiny mind1965
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
twatty1975
twattish1976
blur1977
dof1979
goofus1981
dickheaded1991
dickish1991
numpty1992
cockish1996
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 231 Why thou clay braind guts, thou knotty-pated foole. View more context for this quotation
clay court n. a lawn tennis court with a clay surface; also elliptical.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > lawn tennis > [noun] > court > types of
grass court1880
gravel court1890
clay court1916
en tout cas1928
1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 4 July 9/3 For the third time since the introduction of the national clay court tennis tournament the championship in the men's singles was captured by a star from California.
1958 L. Hoad My Game 224 Get practice on as many different courts as possible. Work out for yourself how the change from grass to clay or to concrete will affect your game.
1964 R. Laver How to play Winning Tennis ix. 73 On very soft clay courts where the ball leaves a mark as big as a footprint, I found that it was common for puffs of chalk to rise as a ball landed.
clay-cut adj. cut in or through clay.
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1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. xviii. 295 The clay-cut channels of the arroyos.
clay-eater n. U.S. (see quot. a1860).
ΚΠ
1841 W. G. Simms Scout (1882) 153 He was..a jaundiced..‘clay-eater’ from the Wassamasaw country.
a1860 Ida May in J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms Clay-eaters, a miserable set of people inhabiting some of the Southern States, who subsist chiefly on turpentine whiskey, and appease their craving for more substantial food by filling their stomachs with a kind of aluminous earth which abounds everywhere..They are looked down upon by the negroes with a contempt which they return by a hearty hatred.
clay-frame n. a frame made of clay; applied to a human body (see sense 4).
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1614 T. White Sapphicks in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign James I (1848) 358 Here's thy clay-frame,—God, doe with it thy pleasure; Here's thine owne semblant by my sinnes abused.
clay hole n. a water-hole in a clay-bed.
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1843 S. M. Fuller Summer on Lakes 215 He drowned himself..in a broad and shallow clay hole.
clay-iron n. a tool for forcing clay into leaking bore-holes.
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1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 118 Clay-iron, a tool for crowding clay into leaky bore-holes.
clay iron-ore n. names given to various iron-ores containing much clay, esp. argillaceous hæmatite.
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1888 J. Prestwich Geol. II. 94 When instead of the clay-iron-ores the shales contain iron-pyrites.
clay ironstone n.
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1843 J. E. Portlock Rep. Geol. Londonderry 226 Clay-ironstone.
clay-kiln n. a kiln for burning clay.
clay-land n. land in which clay is the predominant constituent of the soil.
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the world > the earth > land > ground > [noun] > clay
clay-land1707
slipe1717
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry vi. 73 This sort of Marle did very well upon Clay Lands.
1949 W. G. Hoskins Midland Eng. i. 2 Claylands that rarely stand six hundred feet above the sea.
clay-loam n. loam containing a large proportion of clay.
clay-maker n. one who prepares clay for use in brickmaking, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of bricks or tiles > [noun] > brick-maker > involved in specific process
clay-man1440
moulder1599
clay-maker1662
upganger1726
clot-moulder1843
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 21 If the Clay-makers did beat the Clay as it ought to be.
clay-man n.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of bricks or tiles > [noun] > brick-maker > involved in specific process
clay-man1440
moulder1599
clay-maker1662
upganger1726
clot-moulder1843
1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 114/1 Dauber, or cleymann, argillarius, bituminarius.
clay-mill n. a mill for mixing and tempering clay.
clay-modeller n. one who makes models of clay.
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?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 55 Clay, Ornamental Modeller.
clay-modelling n. the art or practice of modelling in clay.
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1898 Westm. Gaz. 5 Jan. 2/3 Clay~modelling talent.
clay-pan n. (a) Australia a natural hollow formed of clayey soil and retaining water after rain; (b) U.S. a layer of clay in the soil.
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1838 H. Colman 1st Rep. Agric. Mass. (Mass. Agric. Surv.) 78 This drain is four feet wide at the top, and goes down some small depth into the clay pan.
1875 J. Forrest Explor. Australia v. 260 We travelled..over stony plains; many clay-pans with water, but no feed.
1890 Argus (Melbourne) 2 Aug. 13/3 The baked surface of the claypan.
1930 A. Groom Merry Christmas xvii. 127 The claypan was torn up into a soft powder from the rushing and driving of thousands of cattle across it.
1954 B. Miles Stars my Blanket xxiv. 216 Between the sandhills there were claypans, flat and hard and white.
clay-pie n. a mud-pie.
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a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Richard II ccxxvi, in Poems (1878) III. 193 Shee's gone to Schoole; her Cross-row and Crow feet Hinder the Huswiferye of her Clay-pies.
clay pigeon n. originally U.S. a piece of baked clay or other material, serving as a target in trap-shooting; cf. clay-bird n.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > trap-shooting > [noun] > object shot at
pigeon1875
smoke-ball1881
clay pigeon1888
clay-bird1897
clay1909
1888 Outing Sept. 501 He had broken innumerable glass balls and ‘clay pigeons’ at a trap.
1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 15 Sept. 958 The Anglo-American Ligowsky Clay Pigeon Traps.
1958Clay pigeon [see sense 6b]. clay-pipe n. a tobacco-pipe made of baked clay (pipe-clay).
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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > smoking > articles or materials used in smoking > [noun] > pipe > clay-pipe
fairy pipe1829
clay1863
clay-pipe1876
T.D. pipe1880
1876 Modern Christianity 19 We made ourselves..snug..over a couple of long clay pipes.
clay-pit n. a pit from which clay is dug.
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society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > [noun] > clay
loam-pit990
clay-pitc1440
tile-pit1656
pothole1898
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 80 Cleypytte, argillarium.
1483 Cath. Angl. 65 A Clapitte.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Argiliere, a clay-pit, or, a plot wherein Potters clay is gotten.
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1645 S. Rutherford Tryal & Trivmph of Faith (1845) 4 How many hundred hours in one summer doth our breathing clay-post skip over.
clay-puddle n. clay wrought with water to form a watertight lining for reservoirs, etc. (see puddle n.).
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1828 H. Steuart Planter's Guide 499 A good wall of well-made clay-puddle.
clay-shale n. (see quot.)
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1882 Econ. Geol. Illinois II. 10 It is underlaid by fire-clay, or clay shale, twenty inches thick.
clay-slip n. (see quot.)
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1882 Econ. Geol. Illinois II. 18 This coal-seam is subject to some irregularities, such as ‘clay slips’ or ‘horse-hacks’ sometimes called ‘faults’ by the miners.
clay-soil n. soil composed chiefly or wholly of clay.
clay-weed n. the Colt's-foot ( Tussilago farfara).
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > coltsfoot
horse-hoof1398
foalfoota1400
wowellc1450
Tussilago1510
coltsfoot1552
bull-foot1562
colt's-hoof1565–73
colt-herb1587
coughwort1597
horse-foot1597
flap-dock1846
clay-weed1878
1878 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Clayweed, Tussilago Farfara, from its partiality to clay soils.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [noun]
clay-work1612
earthenwarea1624
pottery ware1633
pot-ware1661
earthware1713
ware1741
pottery1771
vitrefacture1841
ceramic1880
briquetage1902
1612 S. Sturtevant Metallica xi. 79 Tiles and brickes, and all other clayworks.
clay-works n. works in which clay is prepared for use.
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1909 Daily Chron. 11 June 5/5 Showing them over the clayworks.
clay-worker n.
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1902 Daily Chron. 21 May 6/3 The British Institute of Clayworkers.
clay-working n.
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society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with clay > [noun]
clay-working1900
1900 Engin. Mag. 19 793/1 (heading) The Clay-Working Industry of the Pacific Coast.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
clayv.
/kleɪ/, U.S. /kleɪ/ 1. transitive. To treat with clay; to cover, smear, or plaster with clay.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > clad or cover [verb (transitive)] > plaster > with specific material
daub1382
cloamc1460
rowcast1500
clay?1523
dab1577
roughcast1584
cloom1609
chunam1687
sparkle1805
harl1806
slub1823
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xlvi Clay it and bynde it.
1562 P. Whitehorne Certain Waies Orderyng Souldiers f. 45, in tr. N. Machiavelli Arte of Warre A verye good claye for to lute or clay, and ioyne violles, flagons of glasse, [etc.].
1663 P. Henry Diaries & Lett. (1882) Apr. 26 Dwelling-house..clay'd for John Green.
1712 J. Warder True Amazons 160 When your Mead is almost cold, Tun it up, Clay it down, and let it stand.
1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. 41 Like an Oven, clayed round in a very artful Manner.
2. transitive. To dress (sandy soil) with clay, mix clay with.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > prepare land or soil [verb (transitive)] > mix soils
chalk?1578
intersoil1610
clay1697
1697 Philos. Trans. 1695–7 (Royal Soc.) 19 413 Claying a very light Sandy Soil.
1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke II. iv. 43 How he was draining, claying, breaking up old moorlands.
3. transitive. To treat (sugar) with clay in refining.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > sugar manufacture > [verb (transitive)] > refine > by claying
clay1703
1703 W. Dampier Voy. New Holland ii. 55 All the Sugar that is made here is clay'd.
1822 T. Webster Imison's Elem. Sci. & Art (new ed.) II. 127 Clay is put upon the tops of the conical pots in which the sugar has granulated, which allows water to percolate through, and thus drain off the last remains of the molasses. This is called claying the sugars.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 943.
Categories »
4. transitive. Mining. To line the blast hole with clay to prevent the access of water to the explosive: cf. claying-bar n. at claying n. Compounds.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1000
v.?1523- pine sawfly
- pine shoot
- pine shoot moth
- pine siskin
- pine snake
- pine splint
- pine squirrel
- pine stem
- pine stove
- pine strawberry
- pine stump
- pine swamp
- pine tag
- pine tar
- pine thicket
- pine thistle
- pine timber
- pine torch
- pine tract
- pine tree
- pine tree bole
- pine tree branch
- pine tree coinage
- pine tree flag
- pine tree leaf