red clay

American  

noun

Geology.

1. a brown to red, widely distributed deep-sea deposit consisting chiefly of microscopic particles and tinted red by iron oxides and manganese.

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Other Word Forms

• red-clay adjective

Etymology

Origin of red clay

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Example Sentences

But by the time it was over, the 5-hour, 29-minute epic on the red clay of Roland-Garros was simply one of the greatest major finals ever played.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 25, 2025

I played in the parks, which were often hard red clay with loose pebbles and stones, with two square goalposts fashioned out of wood and string.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2025

Cobblestone streets and mom-and-pop stores speckle the downtown of this city of 18,000 that is caked in red clay soil and nestled among rolling hills.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2024

The track added red clay each of the last three years.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 17, 2024

Soft indentations in the snow stretched from the attic window over a small incline between four cracked red clay chimneys.

From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick