Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small amount of residue: A tiny, often undesirable, leftover portion of a liquid, typically found at the bottom of a container.
   • The most worthless part: Used figuratively to describe the least desirable or most contemptible elements of something.

Usage

• The word "dreg" is almost always used in its plural form, "dregs".
• It literally refers to the sediment or grounds left in a cup of coffee, tea, or wine.
• Figuratively, it describes the last, worst, or most useless remnants of something.

Examples

• Literal use:
  • He finished his coffee, swallowing the bitter dregs at the bottom of the cup.
  • After pouring the wine, a dark sediment of dregs remained in the bottle.
• Figurative use:
  • The criminal was considered the dreg of society.
  • Only the dregs of the merchandise were left after the sale.

Advanced Usage

• "The dregs of [something]": The last and worst parts.
  • He was forced to hire from the dregs of the applicant pool.
• "To drink/drain to the dregs": To consume something completely, leaving nothing; often used figuratively to mean to experience something, especially something unpleasant, to its fullest extent.
  • She drank the bitter cup of failure to the dregs.

Variants and Related Words

• Dregs (n, plural): The standard and most common form of the word.
• Dreggy (adj, rare): Resembling or containing dregs; full of sediment.

Synonyms

• Sediment: Matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid.
• Lees: The sediment of wine in the barrel.
• Grounds: The sediment of coffee or tea.
• Remnant: A small remaining quantity.
• Refuse: Matter thrown away as worthless.

Idioms and Phrases

• "The dregs of society": A strongly derogatory phrase for people considered the most worthless or contemptible in a community.
  • The charity aimed to help those whom others dismissed as the dregs of society.
• "Not a dreg": Not even the smallest amount left; completely gone.
  • After the party, there was not a dreg of food remaining.

Noun

1. a small amount of residue