Search Result for "dross": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. worthless or dangerous material that should be removed;
- Example: "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]


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.