Clay
WordNet
noun
(1) The dead body of a human being
"The cadaver was intended for dissection"
"The end of the police search was the discovery of a corpse"
"The murderer confessed that he threw the stiff in the river"
"Honor comes to bless the turf that wraps their clay"
(2) United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states (1777-1852)
(3) United States general who commanded United States forces in Europe from 1945 to 1949 and who oversaw the Berlin airlift (1897-1978)
(4) A very fine-grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired
(5) Water soaked soil; soft wet earth
WiktionaryText
English
Etymology
clǣġ, from Germanic *klaijā-, from *kli- ‘to stick, cleave’, from Indo-European *glei- which means to glue, paste, stick together. Cognate with Dutch klei, German Klei; compare Ancient Greek , Latin glūs ‘glue’.
Noun
- 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.
- The French Open is played on clay.
- (Biblical) The material of the human body.
- 1611. Old Testament, King James Version, Job 10:8-9:
- Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about...thou hast made me as the clay.
- 1611. Old Testament, King James Version, Isaiah 64:8:
- But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; and we are the work of thy hand.
- 1611. Old Testament, King James Version, Job 10:8-9: