Dust vs. Clay

(uncountable) Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.

(countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.

(obsolete) A single particle of earth or other material.

The earth, as the resting place of the dead.

The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.

(figurative) Something worthless.

(figurative) A low or mean condition.

cash; money (in reference to gold dust).

(mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.

(transitive) To remove dust from.

Example: ‘The cleaning lady needs a stool to dust the cupboard.’;

(intransitive) To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.

Example: ‘Dusting always makes me cough.’;

(intransitive) Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.

(transitive) To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.

Example: ‘The mother dusted her baby's bum with talcum powder.’;

To leave; to rush off.

To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.

Fine, dry particles of earth or other matter, so comminuted that they may be raised and wafted by the wind; that which is crumbled to minute portions; fine powder; as, clouds of dust; bone dust.

Example: ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’; ‘Stop! - for thy tread is on an empire's dust.’;

A single particle of earth or other matter.

The earth, as the resting place of the dead.

Example: ‘For now shall sleep in the dust.’;

The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.

Example: ‘And you may carve a shrine about my dust.’;

Figuratively, a worthless thing.

Example: ‘And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust.’;

Figuratively, a low or mean condition.

Example: ‘[God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust.’;

Gold dust

To free from dust; to brush, wipe, or sweep away dust from; as, to dust a table or a floor.

To sprinkle with dust.

To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.

fine powdery material such as dry earth or pollen that can be blown about in the air;

Example: ‘the furniture was covered with dust’;

the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up

free microscopic particles of solid material;

Example: ‘astronomers say that the empty space between planets actually contains measurable amounts of dust’;

remove the dust from;

Example: ‘dust the cabinets’;

rub the dust over a surface so as to blur the outlines of a shape;

Example: ‘The artist dusted the charcoal drawing down to a faint image’;

cover with a light dusting of a substance;

Example: ‘dust the bread with flour’;

distribute loosely;

Example: ‘He scattered gun powder under the wagon’;

Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution.

A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.

An earth material with ductile qualities.

(tennis) A tennis court surface.

Example: ‘The French Open is played on clay.’;

(biblical) The material of the human body.

(geology) A particle less than 3.9 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.

A clay pipe for smoking tobacco.

A clay pigeon.

Example: ‘We went shooting clays at the weekend.’;

(informal) Land or territory of a country or other political region.

Example: ‘Danzig is rightfully German clay.’;

(transitive) To add clay to, to spread clay onto.

To purify using clay.

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.

Earth in general, as representing the elementary particles of the human body; hence, the human body as formed from such particles.

Example: ‘I also am formed out of the clay.’; ‘The earth is covered thick with other clay,Which her own clay shall cover.’;

To cover or manure with clay.

To clarify by filtering through clay, as sugar.

a very fine-grained soil that is plastic when moist but hard when fired

water soaked soil; soft wet earth

United States general who commanded United States forces in Europe from 1945 to 1949 and who oversaw the Berlin airlift (1897-1978)

United States politician responsible for the Missouri Compromise between free and slave states (1777-1852)

the dead body of a human being

a stiff, sticky fine-grained earth that can be moulded when wet, and is dried and baked to make bricks, pottery, and ceramics

Example: ‘a clay soil’; ‘a clay tile’; ‘the soil is mainly clay’; ‘the rocks are covered by various mixtures of loose clays and sands’;

sediment with particles smaller than silt, typically less than 0.002 mm.

a hardened clay surface for a tennis court

Example: ‘she won more matches on clay than any other player’;

the substance of the human body

Example: ‘this lifeless clay’;

a European moth with yellowish-brown wings.

Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals. Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay particles, but become hard, brittle and non–plastic upon drying or firing.