The Collaborative International Dictionary
Clay \Clay\ (kl[=a]), n. [AS. cl[=ae]g; akin to LG. klei, D. klei, and perh. to AS. cl[=a]m clay, L. glus, gluten glue, Gr. gloio`s glutinous substance, E. glue. Cf. Clog.]
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.
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(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.
--Job xxxiii. 6.The earth is covered thick with other clay, Which her own clay shall cover.
--Byron.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.
Wikipedia
A clay pit is a quarry or mine for the extraction of clay, which is generally used for manufacturing pottery, bricks or Portland cement.
The brickyard or brickworks is often located alongside the clay pit to reduce the transport costs of the raw material. Today, pottery producers are often not sited near the source of their clay and usually do not own the clay deposits. The other essential raw material is fuel for firing and potteries may be located near to fuel deposits rather than the clay.
Former claypits are sometimes filled with water and used for recreational purposes such as sailing and scuba diving. The Eden Project at Bodelva near St Austell, Cornwall, UK is a major redevelopment of a former china clay (kaolin) pit for educational and environmental purposes.
Usage examples of "clay pit".
The clay pit to the right and downslope of the ovens was filled with water and chunks of ice.
She climbed one fence and slid across a potter's clay pit, and climbed a second and came down into a rose bush.
The clay pit was on the edge of what was probably a stream bed in which no water had run since the last rainy season.
He could be all day in a clay pit dismantling a bomb that might kill him at any moment, could come home from the burial of a fellow sapper, his energy saddened, but whatever the trials around him there was always solution and light.
The broadcasts had begun just two days before his final conversation with Claire at the flooded clay pit.