Dreg Definition
drĕg
dregs
noun
The sediment in a liquid, such as wine or coffee.
American Heritage
The basest or least desirable portion.
The dregs of humanity.
American Heritage
A small amount; a residue.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
- scum
- trash
- riffraff
- ragtag and bobtail
- Often used in plural: lumpenproletariat
- rabble
- sediment
- precipitation
- precipitate
- lees
- Often used in plural: deposit
Origin of Dreg
-
From Old Norse dregg (“sediment") (whence also Icelandic dregg). Cognate with Albanian ndrag (“to make dirty, to foul"), dra (“sediments of dairy products or liquids").
From Wiktionary
Middle English dreg from Old Norse dregg
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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