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scoria

American  
[skawr-ee-uh, skohr-] / ˈskɔr i ə, ˈskoʊr- /

noun

plural

scoriae

  1. Metallurgy. the refuse, dross, or slag left after melting or smelting metal; scum.

  2. Geology. a cinderlike basic cellular lava.

scoria British  
/ ˈskɔːrɪə, ˌskɔːrɪˈeɪʃəs /

noun

  1. a rough cindery crust on top of solidified lava flows containing numerous vesicles

  2. refuse obtained from smelted ore; slag

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
scoria Scientific  
/ skôr′ē-ə /

plural

scoriae

  1. Rough, crusty, solidified lava containing numerous vesicles that originated as gas bubbles in the lava while it was still molten.

Other Word Forms

  • scoriaceous adjective

Etymology

Origin of scoria

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin scōria < Greek skōría, derivative of skôr dung

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The type of volcanic rock with common vesicles is called scoria.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

Lank shadows and stocky, the fluttering shadows of dresses, the ridiculous elongated shadows of trousered legs, darted and danced last week all over the reddish scoria of the Roland Garros Stadium courts near Paris.

From Time Magazine Archive

The non-metallic particles being brought to a state of fusion by the constant action of four pair of hand-worked bellows, the iron with the scoria sinks to the bottom.

From The Highlands of Ethiopia by Harris, William Cornwallis

Here, though, he had a check, by the clothes of the infant catching in the rough scoria, when—foxlike—he backed out, turned, and then began to back in.

From A Double Knot by Fenn, George Manville

All that fearful day and all the following night scoria and ashes continued to fall, the thunder never ceased, and the lightning was still incessant.

From Annie o' the Banks o' Dee by Stables, Gordon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.