Definition of "clay" []

• A fine-grained, firm earthy material that is plastic when wet and hardens when heated, consisting primarily of hydrated silicates of aluminum and widely used in making bricks, tiles, and pottery. (noun)
• A hardening or nonhardening material having a consistency similar to clay and used for modeling. (noun)
• Geology A sedimentary material with grains smaller than 0.002 millimeters in diameter. (noun)
• Moist sticky earth; mud. (noun)
• The human body as opposed to the spirit. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The operation of mining clay from the clay pit or quarry is generally referred to as ‘winning the clay’."
• "If it is nearly all clay it is a _clay loam_; if there is much sand it is a _sandy loam_."
• "The term clay refers to a number of earthy materials that are composed of minerals rich in alumina, silica and water."