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# scum

«scum» in Mova's school dictionary: **A dirty layer that forms on top of a liquid, like on a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (scum — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A dirty layer that forms on top of a liquid, like on a pond or bath water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#m1)

2) An insulting word for people thought to be very bad. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science and everyday life, scum forms on a pond, on boiling water when cooking, or around the bath (soap scum). Pupils may notice scum in experiments when making things like soap. Phrases: soap scum, pond scum, skim off the scum.

### examples

- There was green scum on the pond. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#x1)
- Skim the scum off the soup. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#x2)
- Soap scum makes the bath look dirty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#x3)
- The scum floated on top of the water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#x4)
- We cleaned the scum from the fish tank. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#x5)
- Do not drink water with scum on it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#x6)
- I take them when they come in my way, but I do not hunt the Bandar-log, or frogs--or green scum on a water-hole, for that matter.” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/#x7)

### note

Uncountable: "some scum", not "a scum". Using "scum" about people is very rude; do not call people that. Safety: scum on a pond can mean the water is dirty or has harmful algae; keep pets and children out.

### In the corpora

- [Blue-green scum on a lake can be poisonous algae, so do not swim and keep dogs out.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/232-lakes-and-beaches/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «scum» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scum/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.