[syn: slag, scoria, dross]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
dross
n 1: worthless or dangerous material that should be removed;
"there were impurities in the water" [syn: impurity,
dross]
2: the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals
[syn: slag, scoria, dross]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
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
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:
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.