dregs

English

Etymology

From Old Norse dregg (“sediment”)

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɛɡz

Noun

dregs (plural only)

1. (collectively) The sediment settled at the bottom of a liquid; the lees in a container of unfiltered wine.
2. (figuratively, the dregs) The worst and lowest part of something.

   the dregs of society

Usage notes

• The singular form dreg is far less common, but the phrase to the last dreg still has currency.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{sense|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".

• debris, deposit, draff, dross, exuviate, feculence, grounds, grouts, lees, orts, rabble, refuse, residue, residuum, riffraff, rubbish, scum, sediment, settling, trash, loser, outcast

Translations

settled sediment

• Czech: sedlina (cs) f
• Esperanto: feĉo (eo)
• Finnish: sakka (fi)
• French: lie (fr) f
• Georgian: ცხიმოვანი ნარჩენები (ka) (ts’khimovani narch’enebi) 
• German: Bodensatz m, Satz (de) m
• Icelandic: dreggjar (is) m pl, botnfall (is) n

• Irish: moirt (ga) f
• Italian: sedimento (it)
• Latvian: duļķes (lv) f pl
• Polish: fusy (pl) pl
• Spanish: poso (es) m, concho (es) f, hez (es) f, depósito (es)
• Swedish: bottensats c

the worst and lowest

• Czech: vyvrhel (cs) m
• Esperanto: aĉoj (eo) pl, aĉuloj (eo) pl (about people, derogatory)
• Finnish: pohjasakka
• French: lie (fr) f

• German: Abschaum (de) m, Dreck (de) m
• Icelandic: sori m, úrhrak n
• Italian: feccia (it) f
• Spanish: escoria (es) f, mugre (es) f, hez (es) f
• Swedish: bottenskrap n, drägg (about people, derogatory) n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: feccia, posatura