dross

• drosse (obsolete)

From Middle English drosse, dros, from Old English drōs, an apocopated variant of Old English drōsna, drōsne (“a ground, sediment, lees, dregs, dirt, ear wax”), from Proto-Germanic *drōhsnǭ ("yeast, sediment"; compare *dragjō (“yeast”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrak-, *dʰrag- (“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.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɹɒs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɹɔs/
• (Canada, cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /dɹɑs/
• Rhymes: -ɒs, -ɔːs
• Rhymes: -ɔːs

dross (usually uncountable, plural drosses)

1. Waste or impure matter.
2. Residue that forms on the surface of a metal from oxidation.
3. The impurities in metal.
4. A waste product from working with metal.
   • 2008, Narendra B. Dahotre, Sandip Harimkar, Laser Fabrication and Machining of Materials, Springer Science & Business Media (→ISBN), page 176

     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 formation and the various materials and laser-cutting parameters which potentially control the formation of dross. For example, the highly cleaned (dross-free) cutting edges can be obtained in […]

   • 2008, André Ditze, Christiane Scharf, Recycling of Magnesium, Ditze & Scharf (→ISBN), page 25

     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.

5. (figuratively) Worthless or trivial matter.

   Synonyms: junk, rubbish

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:dross.

• drosser
• drossless
• drossy

dross (third-person singular simple present drosses, present participle drossing, simple past and past participle drossed)

1. (transitive) To remove dross from.

• sords

dross (drosais comparative, drosāks superlative, visdrosākais adverb, drosi)

1. (dialectal) brave, safe, sure; alternative form of drošs