Slay vs Clay - What's the difference?
slay | clay |
To kill, murder.
(literary) To eradicate or stamp out.
(by extension, colloquial) To defeat, overcome.
* 1956', “Giants '''Slay Bears in Pro Title Battle”, in ''Lodi News-Sentinel , 1956 December 31,
* 1985', “Redskins '''slay Giants; Thiesmann shatters leg”, in ''The Gadsden Times , 1985 November 19,
* 1993 , Jack Curry, “
(slang) To delight or overwhelm, especially with laughter.
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:
*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.
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,
* 1809', Jonathan Williams, ''
* 1985 , Stuart B. Schwartz, Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian Society: Bahia, 1550-1835 ,
As a verb slay
is to kill, murder.As a proper noun clay is
.slay
English
Verb
- The knight slew the dragon.
- Our foes must all be slain .
- You must slay these thoughts.
page 8.
page D1-5.
Yanks’ Bullpen Falls Short Again”, in The New York Times , 1993 April 21:
- The Yankees were actually slayed by two former Yankees because Rich Gossage pitched one scoreless inning in relief of Eckersley to notch his first victory.
- Ha ha! You slay me!
Usage notes
* The alternative past tense and past participle form "slayed" is most strongly associated with the slang sense, "to delight or overwhelm": *: {{quote-book, i2=*::, 1929, Harry Charles Witwer, Yes Man's Landcitation, passage="Cutey, you slayed me !" grins Jackie, working fast. "I guess that's what made the rest of 'em look so bad — you was so good!"}} * In recent use, "slayed" is also often found associated with the other senses as well. However, this is widely considered nonstandard."But slayed cannot be considered established in such use. Whether it eventually becomes established remains to be seen." — '>citation * A review of US usage 2000-2009 in COCA suggests that "slayed" is increasing in popularity, but remains less common than "slew". It is very rare in UK usage (BNC).
Synonyms
* kill, murder, assassinate * conquer, defeat, overcome * (to overwhelm or delight) kill, hit it out of the parkDerived terms
* slayerReferences
Anagrams
*clay
English
Noun
(en-noun)- Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about...thou hast made me as the clay .
Antonyms
* (material of the human body) soul, spiritHyponyms
* kaolin, kaoline * ball clay * fire clay * potter's clayDerived terms
* ball clay * claying * clayen * clayey * claymation * clay pigeon * fire clay * modelling clay * potter's claySee also
* alluviumVerb
(en verb)- 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.
On the Process of '''ClayingSugar'', in ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society , Volume 6.
page 200,
- The Portuguese had mastered the technique of claying sugar, and other European nations tried to learn the secrets from them.