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# clay

«clay» in Mova's school dictionary: **soft, sticky earth that you can shape with your hands and…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (clay — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Clay is soft, sticky earth that you can shape with your hands and then bake or dry so it goes hard. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#m1)

2) Clay is used for pots, bricks, tiles and models. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#m2)

3) Clay soil is heavy soil that holds water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

maths: a material shared or used to make things, often by weight (things = material ÷ amount per thing); art: modelling clay, pots in a kiln; science: clay soil holds water, bricks are baked clay; history: clay tablets and pots made long ago

### examples

- She has 2 kg of clay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#x1)
- Each pot uses 300 g of clay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#x2)
- He made 6 clay bowls. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#x3)
- How many pots from 3 pounds of clay? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#x4)
- We made clay animals in art class. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#x5)
- The pot is baked in a hot oven called a kiln. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#x6)
- Bricks are made from clay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#x7)
- Clay soil gets sticky after rain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/#x8)

### note

Material ÷ amount per thing gives how many things. Trap: change kilograms to grams first (1 kg = 1000 g). Uncountable: «some clay», «a lump of clay», not «a clay».

### In the corpora

- [Pencil "lead" is graphite, a kind of carbon, mixed with clay; it contains no lead metal.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/1-what-is-everything-made-of/8/)
- [Keep clay moist under plastic so it does not dry out, and wash your hands after using it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/303-console-games-building-crafts-and-music/12/)
- [A kiln for firing clay is extremely hot and is for adults only.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/303-console-games-building-crafts-and-music/13/)
- [Settled people made pots of baked clay to store grain, water and oil.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/2-the-first-farms-and-towns/12/)
- [Scribes pressed a cut reed into wet clay, making wedge-shaped marks called cuneiform.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/3-mesopotamia-first-cities-and-writing/6/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «clay» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/clay/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.