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scum

SKUM/skʌm/

Pluralscums

Verbscums, scumming, scummed

11 meanings of scum

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  1. 1
    worthless personnounslangderogatorycountable or uncountable
    A very bad person, or group of people, who do not deserve any respect.

    People who hurt animals are scum.

    Get out of my store, you scum!

    Similarbastard, asshole

    Note
  2. 2
    noununcountable
    A layer of dirt that forms on top of a liquid, such as water or melted metal.

    Mom skimmed the scum off the top of the soup.

    Oil and dirt left a thin film of scum on the water in the harbor.

    Similardross, impurities, slag

    Note
  3. 3
    green slimenoununcountable
    Green plant growth, like algae, that floats on top of ponds.

    By August, the pond was covered in green scum.

    We could not see the fish under all the green scum.

    Similaralgae, slime

  4. 4
    form a layerverbintransitive
    To get covered with a layer of scum.

    The water in the bucket started to scum over in the heat.

    The old pool scummed over after the family moved away.

    Note
  5. 5
    skimverbtransitive
    To take the layer of scum off the top of a liquid.

    Grandma scummed the soup before she served it.

    You need to scum the pond water before you pour it into the fish tank.

    Similarskim

  6. 6
    sewage layernouncountable or uncountable
    The top layer of the liquid inside a septic tank or cesspool.

    The workers pumped the scum out of the top of the septic tank.

    A thick scum had formed in the old cesspool behind the barn.

  7. 7
    spermnounslangUSuncountable
    Semen, the fluid from a man's body that carries sperm.
    Horse, who was always talking about facts, said, “Man, that can't be scum, ’cause scum is white.”
    1965, Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised LandHere, scum is slang for semen, the fluid that carries sperm.

    Similarsperm, seed, ejaculate, cum, spunk

    Note
  8. 8
    video gamesverbcolloquialtransitive
    In video games, to restart or reload a game again and again until you get the luck you want.

    He scums the first level until he gets a good map.

    Don't scum, just play the run you get!

    Note
  9. 9
    skimverbtransitive
    To take something off the top of a liquid, the way you remove scum.

    He scummed the foam off the jam with a big spoon.

    Scum the bits of dirt off the water before you drink it.

    Similarskim

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 10
    search an areaverbobsolete
    To search or move quickly all over an area of land or sea.

    The soldiers rode out to scum the valley for enemy camps.

    Wandering up and down without certain seat, they lived by scumming those seas and shores as pirates.
    1670, John Milton, The History of BritainHere, scumming means roaming over the seas and shores searching for things to steal.
    Note
  2. 11
    gather togetherverbobsolete
    To bring things or people together, like dirt collecting on top of water.

    The wind and waves scum together trash at the edge of the lake.

    A great majority of the members are scummed together from the Jacobinical dregs of former periods of the revolution.
    1815, Rudolf Ackerman, Frederic ShoberlHere, scummed means gathered together, like scum collecting on a liquid.
    Note

Practice

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Origin

From Middle Dutch or Middle Low German schūme, meaning "foam".