clay

The word “clay” means a fine-grained, sticky earth that becomes pliable when wet and hardens when fired or dried — used for pottery, bricks, and sculpture. In plain terms, a soft, moldable earth used for pottery and bricks, or (in tennis) the reddish crushed-stone court surface.

“Clay” is pronounced klay (/kleɪ/ in IPA).

Here is “clay” used in a sentence: “She shaped the clay into a bowl on the wheel.”

The opposite of “clay” — its antonyms — are soul and spirit.

“Clay” is a noun.

The word “clay” comes from Old English. From Old English clǣg, tracing back to a very old root meaning "to stick together" — the same root that eventually gave English the word "glue.".

“Clay” is a fairly common word in modern English.

“Clay” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a fine-grained, sticky earth that becomes pliable when wet and hardens when fired or dried — used for pottery, bricks, and sculpture.

Clay is a fine-grained, sticky earth that becomes pliable when wet and hardens when fired or dried, making it suitable for pottery and bricks. Mud is simply wet, soft earth mixed with water and does not have the fine texture or firing properties that make clay useful for shaping.

Common pairings include modeling clay, potter's clay, clay pot, clay tablet, and clay court. People also describe something moldable or easily influenced as being "like clay in your hands."

Clay is normally uncountable, so you say "a lump of clay" or "some clay" rather than "a clay." It only takes plural forms in technical contexts where different kinds of clay are compared.