a natural earthy material that is plastic when wet, consisting essentially of hydrated silicates of aluminum: used for making bricks, pottery, etc.
earth; mud.
earth, especially regarded as the material from which the human body was formed.
the human body, especially as distinguished from the spirit or soul; the flesh.
human character as estimated according to fineness of constitution, endowments, etc..
The saints and heroes seem of a different clay from most of us.
to treat or mix with clay; cover, daub, or fill with clay.
to filter through clay.
Bertha M. Charlotte Monica Braeme, 1836–84, English author: originator of a long series of romantic novels.
Cassius Marcellus, 1810–1903, U.S. antislavery leader and diplomat.
Cassius Marcellus, Jr., original name of Muhammad Ali.
Henry, 1777–1852, U.S. statesman and orator.
Lucius (DuBignon) 1897–1978, U.S. general.
a male given name.
Cassius See Muhammad Ali
Henry. 1777–1852, US statesman and orator; secretary of state (1825–29)
a very fine-grained material that consists of hydrated aluminium silicate, quartz, and organic fragments and occurs as sedimentary rocks, soils, and other deposits. It becomes plastic when moist but hardens on heating and is used in the manufacture of bricks, cement, ceramics, etc
earth or mud in general
poetic the material of the human body
First recorded before 1000; Middle English clei, cleigh, Old English clǣg, cognate with Dutch klei, German Klei, akin to glue
Clay is a type of soil or dirt that's made of very small particles. You can mold clay into different shapes when it's wet. Clay is terrible for planting a vegetable garden, but it's perfect for making pottery, tiles, or bricks. You can shape damp clay into a bowl or a cup, and when it's dried and fired in a very hot oven, it becomes extremely hard and sturdy. The Old English root of clay is clæg, "stiff, sticky earth."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
From there, we just kind of molded the clay on the table a little bit.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026
Like many of Brazil’s rare-earth deposits, Viridis’s reserves are found in clay, which executives say is cheaper and easier to process than the hard-rock deposits common in Australia and elsewhere.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
And through it all, favorites tumbled on the red clay until all that remained was the most surprising tennis major in recent years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
In many parts of the island, the soil’s high clay content causes deep fractures to form as it dries.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
She put the crushed maize into a clay pot with water to soak overnight.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
