Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CLAY-COLD', a.

Cold as clay or earth; lifeless. – Rowe.

CLAY'ED, pp.

1. Covered or manured with clay.
2. Purified and whitened with clay; as, clayed sugar. – Edwards.

CLAYES, n. [plur. Fr. claie, a hurdle; W. clwyd.]

In fortification, wattles or hurdles made with stakes interwoven with osiers, to cover lodgments. – Chambers.

CLAY'EY, a.

Consisting of clay; abounding with clay; partaking of clay; like clay.

CLAY'-GROUND, n.

Ground consisting of clay, or abounding with it.

CLAY'ISH, a.

Partaking of the nature of clay, or containing particles of it.

CLAY'-LAND, or CLAY'-SOIL, n.

Land consisting of clay, or abounding with it.

CLAY'-MARL, n.

A whitish, smooth, chalky clay. – Mortimer.

CLAY'MORE, n.

A large sword, used formerly by the Scottish Highlanders.

CLAY'-PIT, n.

A pit where clay is dug. – Woodward.

CLAY'-SLATE, n.

In mineralogy, argillaceous shist; argillite.

CLAY'-STONE, n.

A mineral, the thonstein of Werner, and indurated clay of Kirwan. It resembles compact limestone or calcarious marl. Its texture is porous, compact or slaty. Its color is gray, often tinged with yellow or blue; also rose or pale red, or brownish red, and sometimes greenish. – Cleaveland.

CLEAN, a. [Sax. clæne; W. glan or glain; Ir. glan; Arm. glan. The primary sense seems to be, to open or to remove, to separate. In a general sense, free from extraneous matter, or whatever is injurious or offensive: hence its signification depends on the nature and qualities of the substances to which it is applied.]

1. Free from dirt, or other foul matter; as, clean water; a clean cup; a clean floor.
2. Free from weeds or stones; as, clean land; a clean garden or field.
3. Free from knots or branches; as, clean timber. In America, clear is generally used.
4. Free from moral impurity; innocent. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? – Job xiv. Acts xviii.
5. Free from ceremonial defilement. – Lev. x. Numb. xix.
6. Free from guilt; sanctified; holy. – John xiii. Ps. li.
7. That might be eaten by the Hebrews. – Gen. vii. viii.
8. That might be used. – Luke xi.
9. Free from a foul disease; cured of leprosy. – 2 Kings v. Matth. viii.
10. Dextrous; adroit; not bungling; free from awkwardness; as, a clean feat; a clean boxer.
11. Free from infection; as, a clean ship. A clean bill of health is a certificate that a ship is clean, or free from infection.

CLEAN, adv.

1. Quite; perfectly; wholly; entirely; fully; indicating separation or complete removal of every part. “The people passed clean over Jordan.” Josh. iii. “Is his mercy clean gone forever?” – Ps. lxxvii. This use of clean is not now elegant, and not used except in vulgar language.
2. Without miscarriage; dextrously. Pope came off clean with Homer. – Henley.

CLEAN, v.t. [Sax. clænan; W. glanau. See the Adjective.]

To remove all foreign matter from; to separate from any thing whatever is extraneous to it, or whatever is foul, noxious, or offensive, as dirt or filth from the hands, body or clothes, foul matter from a vessel, weeds, shrubs and stones from a meadow; to purify. Thus a house is cleaned by sweeping and washing; a field is cleaned by plowing and hoeing.

CLEAN'ED, pp.

Freed from filth or dirt.

CLEAN'-HAND-ED, a.

Having clean hands.

CLEAN-HEART-ED, a.

Having a pure heart.

CLEAN'ING, ppr.

Freeing from filth.

CLEAN'LI-NESS, n. [clen'liness; from cleanly.]

1. Freedom from dirt, filth, or any foul extraneous matter. – Addison.
2. Neatness of person or dress; purity. – Swift.

CLEAN'LY, a. [clen'ly. from clean.]

1. Free from dirt, filth, or any foul matter; neat; carefully avoiding filth. – Dryden. Addison.
2. Pure; free from mixture; innocent; as, cleanly joys. – Glanville.
3. Cleansing; making clean; as, cleanly powder. – Prior.
4. Nice; artful; dextrous; adroit; as, a cleanly play; a cleanly evasion. [Obs.] – Spenser. L'Estrange.

CLEAN'LY, adv. [clen'ly.]

In a clean manner; neatly; without filth. – Shak.

CLEAN'NESS, n.

1. Freedom from dirt, filth, and foreign matter; neatness.
2. Freedom from infection or a foul disease.
3. Exactness; purity; justness; correctness; used of language or style; as, cleanness of expression. – Dryden.
4. Purity; innocence. In Scripture, cleanness of hands denotes innocence. Cleanness of teeth denotes want of provisions. – Amos iv. 6.

CLEANS'A-BLE, a. [clenz'able.]

That may be cleansed. – Sherwood.

CLEANSE, v.t. [clenz; Sax. clænsian, from clæne, clean.]

1. To purify; to make clean; to remove filth, or foul matter of any kind, or by any process whatever, as by washing, rubbing, scouring, scraping, purging, ventilation, &c.; as, to cleanse the hands or face; to cleanse a garment; to cleanse the bowels; to cleanse a ship; to cleanse an infected house.
2. To free from a foul or infectious disease; to heal. – Lev. xiv. 4, 8. Mark i. 42.
3. To free from ceremonial pollution and consecrate to a holy use. – Numb. viii. 15. Ezek. xliii. 20.
4. To purify from guilt. – 1 John i. 7.
5. To remove; as, to cleanse a crime. – Dryden.