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 French Open is played on clay.”

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.

“We went shooting clays at the weekend.”

Land or territory of a country or other political region, especially when subject to territorial claims

“Danzig is rightfully German clay.”

To add clay to, to spread clay onto.

(of sugar) To purify using clay.

“1809, Jonathan Williams, On the Process of Claying Sugar, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 6.”