pond scum

noun

1. any free-floating freshwater alga that forms a green scum on water.

pond scum

noun

1. a greenish layer floating on the surface of stagnant waters, consisting of various freshwater algae

Word History and Origins

Origin of pond scum¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

B. maeuseri presumably got its dinner in a very similar way, but also more flamingo-like, rippling tentatively through the shallows, slurping up mouthfuls of lagoon water and filtering out the pond scum.

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One might be: Greitens is like a fetid pool of political pond scum.

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The summer before he started middle school, before he turned into pond scum, he got a forest-green quilt.

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At those Olympics, everyone knew about the four-man crash and the pond scum.

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Asked directly whether he had sold an airplane to raise money, Lindell called one Salon reporter "flying pond scum" and "slime" before hanging up.

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