scum
Americannoun
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a film or layer of foul or extraneous matter that forms on the surface of a liquid.
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refuse or offscourings.
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a low, worthless, or evil person.
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such persons collectively; riffraff; dregs.
verb (used with object)
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to remove the scum from.
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to remove as scum.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a layer of impure matter that forms on the surface of a liquid, often as the result of boiling or fermentation
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the greenish film of algae and similar vegetation surface of a stagnant pond
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Also called: dross. scruff. the skin of oxides or impurities on the surface of a molten metal
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waste matter
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a worthless person or group of people
verb
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(tr) to remove scum from
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rare (intr) to form a layer of or become covered with scum
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scumsimple
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scumssimple
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have scummedperfect
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has scummedperfect
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am scummingprogressive
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are scummingprogressive
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is scummingprogressive
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have been scummingperfect progressive
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has been scummingperfect progressive
Past
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scummedsimple
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had scummedperfect
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was scummingprogressive
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were scummingprogressive
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had been scummingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scum
1200–50; Middle English scume < Middle Dutch schūme ( Dutch schuim ) foam; cognate with German Schaum foam
Vocabulary lists containing scum
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.
See Examples For:
But not long after the job was complete, the paint began to visibly peel, and the gleaming waters promptly refilled with green pond scum.
From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026
He also referred to himself as "scum" who deserved to be put in jail.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025
“I went through four years of hell by this scum that we had to deal with,” Trump said.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
The first is a “caution” advisory, which indicates visitors can swim but should stay away from algae and scum in the water.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2024
His nose sharpened when he saw the greasy sink with its scum of food bits at the bottom.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
When this occurs, blue-green algae can form blooms that discolour the water, or produce floating mats or scums on the water's surface.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025
When this occurs, the algae can form blooms that discolour the water or produce floating mats or scums on the water’s surface.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2024
“You’re in the business of representing scums and trying to make as much money as long as there’s this lapse in the law.”
From Time ● Aug. 6, 2014
The commonest of these pond scums belong to the genus Spirogyra, and one of these will illustrate the characteristics of the order.
From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton
Put into a jar some maiden barberries, with a good quantity of salt; tie on a bladder, and when the liquor scums change it.
From The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory; In Which will Be Found a Large Collection of Original Receipts. 3rd ed. by Bury, Charlotte Campbell, Lady
A thick mist scummed the windshields as the 39-car motorcade rolled eastward under the grey sky toward Andau, a scant kilometer from the border.
From Time Magazine Archive
In boiling fresh meat, care is necessary to have the water boiling all the time it is in the pot; if the pot is not well scummed, the appearance of the meat will be spoiled.
From Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers by Lea, Elizabeth E. (Elizabeth Ellicott)
The metal was too smooth, and scummed with frost.
From A Matter of Proportion by Walker, Anne
But boil it not to bear an Egge, but onely till it be well scummed and clarified.
From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by MacDonell, Anne
He had spent the night in a foetid cell with a number of other delinquents who had been scummed off the streets.
From A Vendetta of the Desert by Scully, W. C. (William Charles)
The mission stories often guide you through a level’s most unique assassinations, which is a nice gift to players who don’t like engaging in the aggressive, save scumming and trial-and-error obsessiveness those never-be-seen challenges require.
From The Verge ● Jan. 27, 2021
To every pint of juice, add two pounds of powdered loaf-sugar, boiling and scumming it in the same manner as for any other jam or jelly.
From The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families by Eaton, Mary, fl. 1823-1849
"There is a brain that will endure but one scumming."
From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 6 Letters 1821-1842 by Lamb, Mary
The next day boil it gently, scumming it all the while till no more scum riseth; and if you will clarifie the Liquor with a few beaten whites of Eggs, it will be the clearer.
From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by MacDonell, Anne
Boil all these together, till the scum be boiled in, not scumming it.
From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by MacDonell, Anne
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.
