kelly, n.1 U.S.
(ˈkɛlɪ)
[cf. callow n. 3, the equivalent term in England.]
The top-soil which is removed in order to get at clay for brickmaking. Hence kelly v. (see quot.).
| 1884 C. T. Davis Manuf. Bricks 103 This vegetable soil is called in brickyard parlance, ‘kelly’, and the operation of removing it termed ‘taking off the kelly’. Ibid., The operation of placing the soil upon the places where the bricks are moulded is termed ‘kellying the floors’. |