scrag-end

Noun

scrag-end (countable and uncountable, plural scrag-ends)

1. Cheap cut of mutton or lamb.
   • When the entire joint, with the exception of the scrag-end (which should always be taken off), is cooked, proportionate time must be allowed for it.2011, Eliza Acton, The Elegant Economist
   • At other times she would add some precious scrag-end of mutton, and the house would be permeated with a wonderful aroma, delicate and substantial at the same time.2011, Susan Sallis, Rosemary For Remembrance
2. Leftovers
   • He would not wilfully leave the scrag-ends of a property and a history without a man to take them up, and possibly bear them on to redemption ; who could tell what life might be in the stock yet ?1882, George Mac Donald, Castle Warlock, page 19
   • What are Amoy, Fuchoo, and Ningpo, or Tianshan-peelo and Tian-shan-man-loo to English children but plaguy words conveying no information whatever—mere scrag-ends of a musty gazetteer crammed into their heads !1882, Cardiff Naturalists' Society, Reports and Transactions - Volume 13, page 31
3. Less desirable part
   • “Indeed, sir,” he added, “it is part of my orders not to set foot on the other side of that gate myself, not for one scrag-end of a minute1917, Arthur Machen, The Terror: A Fantasy, page 99
   • On our way back from Hebburn to Gateshead, which was a journey among the very scrag-ends of industrial life, we passed no less than three funerals, each of them with a long black tail to it.1967, John Boynton Priestley, Donald Gunn MacRae, The World of J. B. Priestley, page 112
4. Old useless person
   • Welcome, ye pitiful scrag-ends of the law!1853, Charles Harpur, The Bushrangers
   • Quint – which is what she calls the old scrag-end sitting in the vinyl-covered institutional armchair by the open window – does nothing.2014, Will Self, Shark