dross
/dɹɒs/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/dɹɔs/
dross noun: residue that forms as a scum on the surface of molten metal from oxidation.
Noun
dross (usually uncountable, plural drosses)
- Residue that forms as a scum on the surface of molten metal from oxidation.
- The impurities in metal.
- A waste product from working with metal.
- Dross is related with the incomplete expulsion of the melt from the bottom of the kerf. For precision applications where the clean cutting edges are important the formation of dross at the bottom of the cutting kerf must be controlled. This requires deep understanding of the mechanisms of dross...2008, Narendra B. Dahotre, Sandip Harimkar, Laser Fabrication and Machining of Materials, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 176
- One of the main problems with recycling and melting magnesium is the presence of particles in the melt which lead to the formation of dross and sludge. To be more precise, the necessary removal of dross and sludge greatly increase the costs of the facility. And, material is lost.2008, André Ditze, Christiane Scharf, Recycling of Magnesium, Ditze & Scharf, →ISBN, page 25
- Synonyms:
- slag
- Worthless or trivial matter.
- What thou lovest well remains,
the rest is drossc. 1945, Ezra Pound, Canto LXXXI
- What thou lovest well remains,
- Residual raw opium left in an opium pipe which can be recycled for further sale or use.
Verb
dross (third-person singular simple present drosses, present participle drossing, simple past and past participle drossed)
- To remove dross from.
dross meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
dross in Tamil
- உலோகக் கழிவு
dross in Urdu
- فضلہ, میل, پھوک
dross in Bengali
- আবর্জনা, মূল্যহীন বস্তু
dross in Malayalam
- അഴുക്ക്, കറ
More languagesFewer languages
- dross in Kannada
- ಕಸ, ಮಡ್ಡಿ, ಕಶ್ಮಲ, ಕಚಡ
- dross in Tagalog
- taing-bakal
- dross in Persian
- تفاله tofâle, لوث lows
Synonyms of dross
Forms of dross
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | drosses |
| alternative form (obsolete) | drosse |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | drosses |
| present participle | drossing |
| past participle | drossed |
| past | drossed |
Origin of dross
From Middle English drosse, dros, from Old English drōs, from Proto-Germanic *drōhs (“dregs, sediment”). Also compare Old English drōsna, drōsne (“a ground, sediment, lees, dregs, dirt, ear wax”), from Proto-Germanic *drōhsnǭ, *drōhsnō (“dregs, sediment”), derived from *drōhs. Alternatively, this may be from *dragjō + *-snō (“yeast, sediment”; compare *dragjō (“yeast”)), as if from *drēcg + -sn. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrā́ks (“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.
Words formed from dross
Words that rhyme with dross
Questions about dross
- What does dross mean?
- Dross means residue that forms as a scum on the surface of molten metal from oxidation.
- What is dross in Tamil?
- Dross in Tamil is உலோகக் கழிவு. See Dross meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is dross?
- Dross can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce dross?
- Dross is pronounced /dɹɒs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of dross?
- The plural of dross is drosses.
Words near dross in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dross (page history and authors); dross (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dross (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Dross (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dross (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dross (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-dross.wav.
Cite this entry: “dross.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dross. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.