scum

But not long after the job was complete, the paint began to visibly peel, and the gleaming waters promptly refilled with green pond scum.

From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026

He also referred to himself as "scum" who deserved to be put in jail.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2025

“I went through four years of hell by this scum that we had to deal with,” Trump said.

From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025

The first is a “caution” advisory, which indicates visitors can swim but should stay away from algae and scum in the water.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2024

“And you think we’re scum, do you?” screamed Gaunt, advancing on Ogden now, with a dirty yellow-nailed finger pointing at his chest.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

When this occurs, blue-green algae can form blooms that discolour the water, or produce floating mats or scums on the water's surface.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025

When this occurs, the algae can form blooms that discolour the water or produce floating mats or scums on the water’s surface.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2024

“You’re in the business of representing scums and trying to make as much money as long as there’s this lapse in the law.”

From Time ● Aug. 6, 2014

In their reproduction they closely resemble the pond scums.

From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton

The scums and sediments make manure hardly inferior to guano.

From The Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56, No. 2, January 12, 1884 A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside by Various

A thick mist scummed the windshields as the 39-car motorcade rolled eastward under the grey sky toward Andau, a scant kilometer from the border.

From Time Magazine Archive

But boil it not to bear an Egge, but onely till it be well scummed and clarified.

From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by MacDonell, Anne

The metal was too smooth, and scummed with frost.

From A Matter of Proportion by Walker, Anne

Clarifiers reach the boiling point much quicker, and cannot easily be scummed.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

Then boil it gently, skimming it all the while, till all the scum be perfectly scummed off; and after that boil it a little longer, peradventure a quarter of an hour.

From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by MacDonell, Anne

The mission stories often guide you through a level’s most unique assassinations, which is a nice gift to players who don’t like engaging in the aggressive, save scumming and trial-and-error obsessiveness those never-be-seen challenges require.

From The Verge ● Jan. 27, 2021

Boil all these together, till the scum be boiled in, not scumming it.

From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by MacDonell, Anne

To every pint of juice, add two pounds of powdered loaf-sugar, boiling and scumming it in the same manner as for any other jam or jelly.

From The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families by Eaton, Mary, fl. 1823-1849

"There is a brain that will endure but one scumming."

From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 6 Letters 1821-1842 by Lamb, Mary

The next day boil it gently, scumming it all the while till no more scum riseth; and if you will clarifie the Liquor with a few beaten whites of Eggs, it will be the clearer.

From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by MacDonell, Anne