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/skʌm/ · noun
(uncountable) A layer of impurities that accumulates at the surface of a liquid (especially molten metal or water)..
During smelting, scum rises to the surface and is then removed by the smelter.
These organisms form scum in large quantities.
Horse, who was always talking about facts, said, “Man, that can't be scum, ’cause scum is white.”
People who sell used-up pens are scum, just total low-lives.
Some scumd the drosse, that from the metall came; / Some stird the molten owre with ladles great[…].
Take the smallest Cucumbers you can get, and as free from Spots as possible, put them into a strong Salt and Water for nine or ten Days, or 'till they are quite Yellow, and stir them twice a Day at least, or they will scum over, and grow soft
SOo by Merlyns aduys ther were sente fore rydars to skumme the Countreye / & they mette with the fore rydars of the north / and made hem to telle whiche wey the hooste cam / and thenne they told it to Arthur / and by kyng Ban and Bors counceill they lete brenne and destroye alle the contrey afore them there they shold ryde
Wandering up and down without certain seat, they lived by scumming those seas and shores as pirates.
Use scum when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Scum means (uncountable) A layer of impurities that accumulates at the surface of a liquid (especially molten metal or water)..
Common synonyms include dross, impurity, impurities, cinder.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
During smelting, scum rises to the surface and is then removed by the smelter.
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