Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Dreg
Dreg
(drĕg)
, Noun.
Corrupt or defiling matter contained in a liquid, or precipitated from it; refuse; feculence; lees; grounds; sediment; hence, the vilest and most worthless part of anything;
as, the
. dregs
of societyWe, the
dregs
and rubbish of mankind. Dryden.
☞ Used formerly (rarely) in the singular, as by Spenser and Shakespeare, but now chiefly in the plural.
Definition 2024
dreg
dreg
English
Noun
dreg (plural dregs)
Usage notes
This term is usually used in plural: see dregs.
Quotations
- 1602?: What makes this pretty abruption? What too curious dreg espies my sweet lady in the fountain of our love? — William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
- 1768:O! be the cup of joy to thee consign'd, / Of joy unmix'd, without a dreg behind! — William Hayley, from 'On the Fear of Death, An Epistle to a Lady, 1768', in Poems on Serious and Sacred Subjects 1818.
- 1910: Fear and trauma may drain to the last dreg the dischargeable nervous energy, and, therefore, the greatest possible exhaustion may be produced by fear and trauma. George W. Crile. in an address delivered at the Massachusetts General Hospital 15 Oct 1910, collected in The Origin and Nature of Emotions
Translations
sediment in a liquid
the lowest and most worthless part of something
References
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.048
Anagrams
Romanian
Verb
dreg
- first-person singular present tense form of drege.
- first-person singular subjunctive form of drege.
- third-person plural present tense form of drege.