Clay n. 1.A soft earth, which is plastic, or may be molded with the hands, consisting of hydrous silicate of aluminium. It is the result of the wearing down and decomposition, in part, of rocks containing aluminous minerals, as granite. Lime, magnesia, oxide of iron, and other ingredients, are often present as impurities.
2.(Poetry & Script.) Earth in general, as representing the elementary particles of the human body; hence, the human body as formed from such particles. "I also am formed out of the clay." "The earth is covered thick with other clay, Which her own clay shall cover."
Bowlder clay. See under Bowlder. Brick clay, the common clay, containing some iron, and therefore turning red when burned.
Clay cold, cold as clay or earth; lifeless; inanimate.
Clay ironstone, an ore of iron consisting of the oxide or carbonate of iron mixed with clay or sand.
Clay marl, a whitish, smooth, chalky clay.
Clay mill, a mill for mixing and tempering clay; a pug mill.
Clay pit, a pit where clay is dug.
Clay slate (Min.), argillaceous schist; argillite.
Fatty clays, clays having a greasy feel; they are chemical compounds of water, silica, and aluminia, as halloysite, bole, etc.
Fire clay, a variety of clay, entirely free from lime, iron, or an alkali, and therefore infusible, and used for fire brick.
Porcelain clay, a very pure variety, formed directly from the decomposition of feldspar, and often called kaolin.
Potter's clay, a tolerably pure kind, free from iron.
Potter n. 1.One whose occupation is to make earthen vessels. "The potter heard, and stopped his wheel."
2.One who hawks crockery or earthenware. (Prov. Eng.)
3.One who pots meats or other eatables.
4.(Zool.) The red-bellied terrapin. See Terrapin. Potter's asthma (Med.), emphysema of the lungs; so called because very prevalent among potters.
Potter's clay. See under Clay. Potter's field, a public burial place, especially in a city, for paupers, unknown persons, and criminals; so named from the field south of Jerusalem, mentioned in
Potter's ore. See Alquifou. Potter's wheel, a horizontal revolving disk on which the clay is molded into form with the hands or tools. "My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel."
Potter wasp (Zool.), a small solitary wasp (Eumenes fraternal) which constructs a globular nest of mud and sand in which it deposits insect larvae, such as cankerworms, as food for its young.
...