Scum
[skʌm]
Definition
(noun.) a film of impurities or vegetation that can form on the surface of a liquid.
(verb.) remove the scum from.
Typist: Michael--From WordNet
Definition
(v.) 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.
(v.) refuse; recrement; anything vile or worthless.
(v. t.) To take the scum from; to clear off the impure matter from the surface of; to skim.
(v. t.) To sweep or range over the surface of.
(v. i.) To form a scum; to become covered with scum. Also used figuratively.
Inputed by Abner
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Froth, dross, refuse, scoria, recrement.
Inputed by Dennis
Definition
n. foam or froth: the extraneous matter rising to the surface of liquids esp. when boiled or fermented: refuse: offscourings dregs.—v.t. to take the scum from: to skim:—pr.p. scum′ming; pa.t. and pa.p. scummed.—n. Scum′mer an implement used in skimming.—n.pl. Scum′mings skimmings.—adj. Scum′my covered with scum.
Checked by Angelique
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of scum, signifies disappointment will be experienced by you over social defeats.
Edited by Albert
Examples
- Why were we ever told to bring navy revolvers with us if we had to be protected at last by this infamous star-spangled scum of the desert? Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Sometimes soap refuses to form a lather and instead cakes and floats as a scum on the top of the water; this is not the fault of the soap but of the water. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- So far from having high connections I have no connections at all, and I come of the scum of the earth. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- I want the room cleared of these two scum. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The albumen of the serum coagulates and rises to the surface in a scum which entangles the impurities and bone black, leaving the syrup light in color. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- After filtering it is again boiled, and if any scum or impurities appear on the surface they are removed, when the juice is to be bottled, corked tightly, and should be left for one year. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- It would not let that passion and loyalty be frittered away to drift like scum through the nation. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Alcibiades knows all the scum of the Levant, and I have no doubt can get a few hundred scamps together. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The dirty scum, Piani said. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- When soap is put into water containing one or both of these, it combines with the salts to form sticky insoluble scum. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- We found him, when we went to search for him, face downward in a little green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Editor: Theresa