DROSS

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dross mean? 

• DROSS (noun)
  The noun DROSS has 2 senses:

1. worthless or dangerous material that should be removed

2. the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals

  Familiarity information: DROSS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DROSS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Worthless or dangerous material that should be removed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

dross; impurity

Context example:

there were impurities in the water

Hypernyms ("dross" is a kind of...):

waste; waste material; waste matter; waste product (any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

dross; scoria; slag

Hypernyms ("dross" is a kind of...):

scum (a film of impurities or vegetation that can form on the surface of a liquid)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dross"):

basic slag (slag produced in making steel; low in silica but having large amounts of calcium phosphate; useful as fertilizer)

 Context examples 

Yet some feelings, unallied to the dross of human nature, beat even in these rugged bosoms.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

His eyes were shining like an angel's, and his face was transfigured, purged of all earthly dross, and pure and holy.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

And better—so much better as pure ore is than foul dross.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Give me the dross!

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It seemed to refine him, to remove from him much of the dross of flesh and the too animal-like vigor that lured her while she detested it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“Dirt and dross!” cried he.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was smiling to himself as he looked up into her virginal face, so innocent, so penetratingly innocent, that its purity seemed always to enter into him, driving out of him all dross and bathing him in some ethereal effulgence that was as cool and soft and velvety as starshine.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)