Dross

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Dross \Dross\ (dr[o^]s; 115), n. [AS. dros, fr. dre['o]san to
     fall. See {Dreary}.]
     1. The scum or refuse matter which is thrown off, or falls
        from, metals in smelting the ore, or in the process of
        melting; recrement.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. Rust of metals. [R.] --Addison.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Waste matter; any worthless matter separated from the
        better part; leavings; dregs; refuse.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              All world's glory is but dross unclean. --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              At the devil's booth are all things sold,
              Each ounce of dross coats its ounce of gold.
                                                    --Lowell.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  dross
       n 1: worthless material that should be removed; "there were
            impurities in the water" [syn: {impurity}]
       2: the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals
          [syn: {slag}, {scoria}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  44 Moby Thesaurus words for "dross":
     alluvion, alluvium, ash, ashes, brand, calx, carbon, charcoal,
     cinder, clinker, coal, coke, coom, deposition, deposits, diluvium,
     draff, dregs, ember, feces, froth, fume, grounds, lava, lees,
     loess, moraine, offscum, precipitate, precipitation, reek, scoria,
     scum, sediment, settlings, silt, sinter, slag, smoke, smudge, smut,
     soot, sublimate, sullage
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Dross
     the impurities of silver separated from the one in the process
     of melting (Prov. 25:4; 26:23; Ps. 119:119). It is also used to
     denote the base metal itself, probably before it is smelted, in
     Isa. 1:22, 25.