Scum

Scum - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

SCUM, n.

1. The extraneous matter or impurities which rise to the surface of liquors in boiling or fermentation, or which form on the surface by other means. The word is also applied to the scoria of metals.

2. The refuse; the recrement; that which is vile or worthless.

The great and the innocent are insulted by the scum and refuse of the people.

Addison.

SCUM, v.t. To take the scum from; to clear off the impure matter from the surface; to skim.

You that scum the molten lead. Dryden.

skum (chel'ah; Septuagint ios, "poison" or "verdigris"; compare Plato Rep. 609a): The word is only found in Eze 24:6,11,12, where the Revised Version (British and American) translates it "rust." The fact, however, that the caldron is of brass and therefore not liable to rust, and the astonishment expressed that the fire did not remove it (24:12), would seem to point to the preferability of the translation "scum," the residue of dirt adhering to the caldron from previous use.