Dross

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /dɹɒs/
• Rhymes: -É’s

Alternative forms

• drosse obsolete

Origin

From Middle English drosse, dros, from Old English drōs, an apocopated variant of Old English drōsna, drōsne ("a ground, sediment, lees, dregs, dirt, ear wax"), from Proto-Germanic *drōhsnǭ (), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrak-, *dʰrag- ("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.

Full definition of dross

Noun

1. Waste or impure matter
2. Worthless or trivial matter
3. Residue that forms on the surface of a metal from oxidation
4. The impurities in metal
5. A waste product from working with metal

Derived terms

• drosser
• drossless
• drossy

Verb

1. (transitive) To remove dross from.

Anagrams

• sords