as in garbage
discarded or useless material
get rid of the dross before closing up the shop
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dross
What tabloid dross tends to obscure is his impressive career—first as a star dancer at the New York City Ballet, then as a roving choreographer of complex, dynamic work that is rooted in balletic conventions but not restricted by them.
—
Sara Krolewski, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
These meteors are the dross shed by the comet 169P/NEAT, whose path Earth crosses at this time each year.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 16 July 2025
Amongst all the dross and angst, Neil and Teddy try to talk everyone into investing in a baseball-card trading venture that might generate $500 in profits after a year.
—Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2025
But among the dross there gleam a few brilliant exceptions—deceptive, slippery books that defy the constraints of region and genre.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
The chipmaker is still raising cash and cutting costs though, as there seems to be quite a bit of dross.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 25 Apr. 2025
After the dross of Bruno Lage, and the chaos of Lopetegui, Gary O'Neil came in and created unity.
—Steve Madeley, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
Could the cotton dross, for instance, enhance a food product’s nutritional profile?
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
Sara Krolewski, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2026
These meteors are the dross shed by the comet 169P/NEAT, whose path Earth crosses at this time each year.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 16 July 2025
Amongst all the dross and angst, Neil and Teddy try to talk everyone into investing in a baseball-card trading venture that might generate $500 in profits after a year.
—Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2025
But among the dross there gleam a few brilliant exceptions—deceptive, slippery books that defy the constraints of region and genre.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
The chipmaker is still raising cash and cutting costs though, as there seems to be quite a bit of dross.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 25 Apr. 2025
After the dross of Bruno Lage, and the chaos of Lopetegui, Gary O'Neil came in and created unity.
—Steve Madeley, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
Could the cotton dross, for instance, enhance a food product’s nutritional profile?
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dross
Noun
-
Installed on the former garbage dump bounded by Sunset, Lewis, Western and Glen Flora avenues, there are now 20,000 solar panels.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Jan. 2026
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Rescuers retrieved eight people alive and were searching for the missing still trapped after a huge mound of garbage and debris collapsed on them in the village of Binaliw in Cebu city, police said.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Fernando is looking to eventually publish a catalog of seismically tracked, entering space objects, while improving future calculations by factoring in the wind’s effect on falling debris.—
Marcia Dunn,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Jan. 2026
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During all that time, miniscule rocks and debris should continue to to collide and merge into the building blocks of future gas and terrestrial planets.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Piles of human scraps offer a bottomless buffet to wildlife, and to access that bounty, animals need to be bold enough to rummage through human rubbish but not so bold as to become a threat to people.—
Marina Wang,
Scientific American,
14 Nov. 2025
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Helga once wrestled down a drunk fisherman in the Café, a man of above-average size, and then threw him out like a piece of rubbish; Jens thus transfers most of his weight automatically to her; who is this kid, by the way?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Tourists are urged to lock up their food and trash, and anglers instructed to bury any bait that may attract scavengers.—
Hilary Whiteman,
CNN Money,
24 Jan. 2026
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Transcripts from nearly a century ago show a city meeting where concerns were voiced about sharp pieces of wood on the south ramp of the pier causing injury to beachgoers who were seeking first aid, sweeping currents pushing people into the pier and trash left behind by the influx of visitors.—
Laylan Connelly,
Oc Register,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Most of that toxic junk was never found, Fernando added.—
Tereza Pultarova,
Space.com,
24 Jan. 2026
-
There’s so much junk in Eggleston’s pictures.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Researchers revealed that the high-voltage output facilitates the neutralization and collection of dust and moisture by generating negative ions.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Jan. 2026
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Adding a dust ruffle around the base of your bed can make this spot even better for keeping messy items hidden.—
Lauren Landers,
The Spruce,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The United Nations Office for Project Services says Gaza has more than 60 million tons of rubble, enough to fill nearly 3,000 container ships.—
Matt Bradley,
NBC news,
24 Jan. 2026
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The United Nations says unexploded shells and missiles are everywhere in Gaza, posing a threat to people searching through rubble to find their relatives, belongings and kindling.—
Julia Frankel,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dross.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dross. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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