scum

Noun · Verb

US[skuhm]/skʌm/1 syllable

Synonyms: trash

Open English WordNet

Noun (2)

worthless peopleSynonyms: trashType of rabble, riffraff
a film of impurities or vegetation that can form on the surface of a liquidType of filmKinds slag, scoria

Verb (1)scummed, scumming

remove the scum fromMore general get rid of, remove

Word of the day · Oct 30About this word

mundaneadjective

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

Translations

Noun person or persons considered to be reprehensible

Spanish: escoria
French: racaille
German: Abschaum
Portuguese: escória
Russian: мразь mrazʹ
Chinese: 人渣 rénzhā
Polish: szumowina
Swedish: avskum
Greek: απόβρασμα apóvrasma
Vietnamese: cặn bã

5 more languages

Portuguese (PT): escória
Catalan: escòria
Finnish: roskaväki
Hebrew: חֶלְאָה ẖel'á
Welsh: gwehilion

Noun layer of impurities

Spanish: escoria
German: Abschaum
Italian: schiuma
Portuguese: escória
Turkish: köpük
Russian: пе́на péna
Japanese: あく aku
Greek: απόβρασμα apóvrasma
Vietnamese: váng
Portuguese (PT): escória

4 more languages

Albanian: makë
Catalan: escòria
Finnish: kuona
Walloon: schome

The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Scum (skŭm), noun

Origin: Of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. & Sw. skum, Icel. skūm, LG. schum, D. schuim, OHG. scūm, G. schaum; probably from a root meaning, to cover. √158. Cf. Hide skin, Meerschaum, Skim, verb, Sky.

1. The extraneous matter or impurities which rise to the surface of liquids in boiling or fermentation, or which form on the surface by other means; also, the scoria of metals in a molten state; dross.

Some to remove the scum as it did rise.— Edmund Spenser

2. refuse; recrement; anything vile or worthless.

The great and innocent are insulted by the scum and refuse of the people.— Joseph Addison

Scum transitive verb [past tense & past participle Scummed; present participle & verbal noun Scumming.]

1. To take the scum from; to clear off the impure matter from the surface of; to skim.

You that scum the molten lead.— John and Lee, Nathaniel. Dryden

2. To sweep or range over the surface of. obsolete

Wandering up and down without certain seat, they lived by scumming those seas and shores as pirates.— John Milton

Scum intransitive verb

To form a scum; to become covered with scum. Also used figuratively.

Life, and the interest of life, have stagnated and scummed over.— Andrew Kennedy Hutchison Boyd

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54