pipeclay

English

Etymology

From pipe +‎ clay.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

pipeclay (countable and uncountable, plural pipeclays)

1. catlinite

Synonyms

• pipestone

Verb

pipeclay (third-person singular simple present pipeclays, present participle pipeclaying, simple past and past participle pipeclayed)

1. (transitive) To whiten by application of pipeclay.
   • 1904–1907 (date written), James Joyce, “An Encounter”, in Dubliners, London: Grant Richards, published June 1914, →OCLC, page 24:

     I sat up on the coping of the bridge admiring my frail canvas shoes which I had diligently pipeclayed overnight and watching the docile horses pulling a tramload of business people up the hill.

   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VII, in Capricornia‎, page 92:

     The walls were lined with paper-bark, pipe-clayed and panelled with polished bloodwood.

2. (transitive, slang, dated, UK) To clear off.

   to pipeclay accounts