dross

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 30, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>dross</strong> &#149; \DRAHSS\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> the scum or unwanted material that forms on the surface of <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/molten">molten</a> metal</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> waste or foreign matter <strong>:</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impurity">impurity</a></p> <p><strong>3 :</strong> something that is <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/base#h3">base</a>, trivial, or inferior</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"From King John's compulsion by feudal lords to sign the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Magna%20Carta">Magna Carta</a> to the execution of King Charles by Parliamentarian forces, English governance was forged, with the <em>dross</em> constantly falling away, in situations as real and uncertain as in our time." — <a href="https://www.ajc.com/opinion/opinion-another-opportunity-to-endure/RELXXWBVKRGZFOWJXKFJ66M5CU/">Douglas D. Ford, <em>The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</em>, 3 Nov. 2020</a></p> <p>"Mark Kurlansky is a shining example of a writer who can turn seeming <em>dross</em> into gold. Books like <em>Salt</em> and <em>Cod</em> elevate humdrum topics to objects of fascination by revealing them as pivotal players in the dramas of human history." — <a href="https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/when-writers-spin-mundane-subjects-into-literary-gold#:~:text=Mark%20Kurlansky%20is%20a%20shining,make%20the%20discovery%20great%20fun.">Barbara Lane, <em>The San Francisco Chronicle</em>, 22 Jan. 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Dross</em> has been a part of the English language since Anglo-Saxon times. It comes from the Old English word <em>drōs</em>, meaning "dregs," those solid materials tha