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Brick clay

Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Brick \Brick\, n. [OE. brik, F. brique; of Ger. origin; cf. AS.
   brice a breaking, fragment, Prov. E. brique piece, brique de
   pain, equiv. to AS. hl[=a]fes brice, fr. the root of E.
   break. See {Break}.]
   1. A block or clay tempered with water, sand, etc., molded
      into a regular form, usually rectangular, and sun-dried,
      or burnt in a kiln, or in a heap or stack called a clamp.

            The Assyrians appear to have made much less use of
            bricks baked in the furnace than the Babylonians.
                                                  --Layard.

   2. Bricks, collectively, as designating that kind of
      material; as, a load of brick; a thousand of brick.

            Some of Palladio's finest examples are of brick.
                                                  --Weale.

   3. Any oblong rectangular mass; as, a brick of maple sugar; a
      penny brick (of bread).

   4. A good fellow; a merry person; as, you 're a brick.
      [Slang] ``He 's a dear little brick.'' --Thackeray.

   {To have a brick in one's hat}, to be drunk. [Slang]

   Note: Brick is used adjectively or in combination; as, brick
         wall; brick clay; brick color; brick red.

   {Brick clay}, clay suitable for, or used in making, bricks.
      

   {Brick dust}, dust of pounded or broken bricks.

   {Brick earth}, clay or earth suitable for, or used in making,
      bricks.

   {Brick loaf}, a loaf of bread somewhat resembling a brick in
      shape.

   {Brick nogging} (Arch.), rough brickwork used to fill in the
      spaces between the uprights of a wooden partition; brick
      filling.

   {Brick tea}, tea leaves and young shoots, or refuse tea,
      steamed or mixed with fat, etc., and pressed into the form
      of bricks. It is used in Northern and Central Asia. --S.
      W. Williams.

   {Brick trimmer} (Arch.), a brick arch under a hearth, usually
      within the thickness of a wooden floor, to guard against
      accidents by fire.

   {Brick trowel}. See {Trowel}.

   {Brick works}, a place where bricks are made.

   {Bath brick}. See under {Bath}, a city.

   {Pressed brick}, bricks which, before burning, have been
      subjected to pressure, to free them from the imperfections
      of shape and texture which are common in molded bricks.

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}.]
   1. 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.

   2. (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.
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