dreg
[noun]
Synonyms: sediment, deposit, grounds, lees, precipitate, precipitation, settlings, rabble, canaille, mass(es), mob, proletariat, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, scum, trash, unwashed

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

dreg noun & verb. [drɛg] ME.
[Prob. of Scandinavian origin: cf. Old Norse pl. dreggjar, Middle Swedish dräg, Swedish pl. drägg.]
A. noun sing. & (usu.) in pl.
1. The sediment of a liquor; grounds, lees. ME.
■ Dickens He flings the dregs of his wine at Edwin.

2. Excrement; rubbish; corrupt matter. ME-M17.

3. The most worthless part or parts; the refuse. M16.
■ W. Styron You must be part of the bottomless dregs of this loathsome city.

4. The last remains or traces; sing. a small remnant, a small quantity or drop. L16.
■ E. Bowen At first, in those dregs of daylight, he saw nobody there.
B. verb trans. Infl. -gg-. Make dreggy. rare. E17-E19.

■ dreggish adjective (now rare) of the nature of dregs or refuse; affected by dregs; fig. base, vile: M16.

■ dreggy adjective containing dregs; of the nature of dregs; turbid, polluted; impure: LME.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲