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Clay vs Clam - What's the difference?

clay | clam |

As nouns the difference between clay and clam

is that clay is a mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics while clam is a bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (species: Mya arenaria), the quahog or round clam (Venus mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (species: Spisula solidissima), and other species of the United States. The name is said to have been given originally to the species: Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.

As verbs the difference between clay and clam

is that clay is to add clay to, to spread clay onto while clam is to dig for clams.

As a proper noun Clay

is {{surname|from=occupations}.

clay

English

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.
  • *
  • *:Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with (by way of local colour) on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust.
  • An earth material with ductile qualities.
  • (lb) A tennis court surface.
  • :
  • (lb) The material of the human body.
  • *1611 , Old Testament , King James Version, (w) 10:8-9:
    • Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about...thou hast made me as the clay .
  • *1611 , Old Testament , King James Version, (w) 64:8:
  • *:But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay , and thou art our potter; and we are the work of thy hand.
  • (lb) A particle less than 3.9 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
  • A clay pigeon.

    • Antonyms

    * (material of the human body) soul, spirit

    Hyponyms

    * kaolin, kaoline * ball clay * fire clay * potter's clay

    Derived terms

    * ball clay * claying * clayen * clayey * claymation * clay pigeon * fire clay * modelling clay * potter's clay

    See also

    * alluvium

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To add clay to, to spread clay onto.
  • (of sugar) To purify using clay.
  • * 1776 , , Book IV, Chapter 7: Of Colonies, Part 2: Causes of Prosperity of New Colonies,
    • They amounted, therefore, to a prohibition, at first of claying' or refining sugar for any foreign market, and at present of ' claying or refining it for the market, which takes off, perhaps, more than nine-tenths of the whole produce.
  • * 1809', Jonathan Williams, '' On the Process of '''Claying Sugar'', in ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society , Volume 6.
  • * 1985 , Stuart B. Schwartz, Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian Society: Bahia, 1550-1835 , page 200,
    • The Portuguese had mastered the technique of claying sugar, and other European nations tried to learn the secrets from them.

    References

    * Krueger, Dennis (December 1982). "Why On Earth Do They Call It Throwing?" Studio Potter Vol. 11, Number 1.[http://www.studiopotter.org/articles/?art=art0001] (etymology) * * Clay , New Webster Dictionary of English Language, 1980 edition.

    Anagrams

    *

    clam

    English

    (wikipedia clam)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (, a huge East Indian bivalve.
  • * , chapter=3
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams' thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. ' Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • Strong pincers or forceps.
  • A kind of vise, usually of wood.
  • (US, slang) A dollar (usually used in the plural). Possibly originating from the term wampum.
  • (slang, derogatory) A Scientologist.
  • * {{quote-newsgroup, year=1998, date=23 February, author=
    • jesparolini, title=CO$ Celebrities: USEFUL IDIOTS citation

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To dig for clams.

    • Derived terms

    * American jackknife clam * Atlantic jackknife clam * bamboo clam * clam chowder * clamshell * clam up * giant clam * piss clam * razor clam

    See also

    * clammy

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.
    • (Nares)

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.
    • (Nares)

    Etymology 3

    Noun

  • clamminess; moisture
  • * Carlyle
    • The clam of death.

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.
    • (Dryden)
  • To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.
  • * L'Estrange
    • A swarm of wasps got into a honey pot, and there they cloyed and clammed themselves till there was no getting out again.
    (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----