dregs

English

Etymology

See dreg.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /dɹɛɡz/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛɡz

Noun

dregs pl (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
    • 1826, Mary Shelley, The Last Man, volume 3, chapter 9
      Yet even now I had not drunk the bitter potion to the dregs; I was not yet persuaded of my loss; I did not yet feel in every pulsation, in every nerve, in every thought, that I remained alone of my race - that I was The Last Man.

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

Synonyms
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Translations
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