FluentPlex

clay

/kleɪ/ noun B1
  1. A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics. (uncountable)
  2. An earth material with ductile qualities. (uncountable)
  3. A tennis court surface made of crushed stone, brick, shale, or other unbound mineral aggregate. (uncountable) · The French Open is played on clay.
  4. The material of the human body. (uncountable) · From clay we are made.
  5. A particle less than 3.9 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale. (uncountable)
  6. A clay pipe for smoking tobacco. (uncountable)
  7. A clay pigeon. (informal, uncountable) · We went shooting clays at the weekend.
  8. Land or territory of a country or other political region, especially when subject to territorial claims. (uncountable) · Vilnius is rightful Polish clay.

Plural clays

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From the library

Yes, this self, of whom I thought so much, of whom I was so proud, who had appeared so worthless in the dungeons of the Château d’If, and whom I had succeeded in making so great, will be but a lump of clay tomorrow.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 901 · C1
The stream brings down the clay.”
The Valley of Fear, p. 39 · C1
A small garden sprinkled over with a scattered eruption of sickly plants separated each of these houses from the street, and was traversed by a narrow pathway, yellowish in colour, and consisting apparently of a mixture of clay and of gravel.
A Study in Scarlet, p. 26 · B2
I had this fellow’s stride both on the clay outside and on the dust within.
A Study in Scarlet, p. 37 · B2

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.