Dross
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Waste or impure matter.; Residue that forms as a scum on the surface of molten metal from oxidation. uncountable, usually
- 2 worthless or dangerous material that should be removed wordnet
- 3 Waste or impure matter.; The impurities in metal. uncountable, usually
- 4 the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals wordnet
- 5 Waste or impure matter.; A waste product from working with metal. uncountable, usually
"Dross is related with the incomplete expulsion of the melt from the bottom of the kerf. For precision applications where the clean cutting edges are important the formation of dross at the bottom of the cutting kerf must be controlled. This requires deep understanding of the mechanisms of dross formation and the various materials and laser-cutting parameters which potentially control the formation of dross. For example, the highly cleaned (dross-free) cutting edges can be obtained in […]"
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- 6 Worthless or trivial matter. figuratively, uncountable, usually
"What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross"
- 7 Residual raw opium left in an opium pipe which can be recycled for further sale or use. slang, uncountable, usually
- 1 To remove dross from. transitive
Example
More examples"Even the best authors can write dross."
Etymology
From Middle English drosse, dros, from Old English drōs, from Proto-Germanic *drōhs (“dregs, sediment”). Also compare Old English drōsna, drōsne (“a ground, sediment, lees, dregs, dirt, ear wax”), from Proto-Germanic *drōhsnǭ, *drōhsnō (“dregs, sediment”), derived from *drōhs. Alternatively, this may be from *dragjō + *-snō (“yeast, sediment”; compare *dragjō (“yeast”)), as if from *drēcg + -sn. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrā́ks (“sediment, yeast”). Cognate with Scots dros, drose, drosse (“small particles, fragments, dross”), Middle Dutch droes (“dregs”), Dutch droesem (“dregs”), German Drusen (“lees, dregs”), Latin fracēs (“grounds or dregs of oil”). Related also to drast, dregs.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.