粕 (pò) - Dregs — refers to the leftover residue after & metaphorically refers to worthless or inferior things.

粕Tone 4

pò ｜ 11 strokes ｜ radical:

柠七

粕 · pò

Dregs — refers to the leftover residue after extracting the useful part from something, especially from grains in brewing or oil extraction;

metaphorically refers to worthless or inferior things.

Dregs — refers to the leftover residue aftermetaphorically refers to worthless or inferior things.

Usage highlights

Soybean mealRice branBrewer's grainsOil cakeGrain residueWaste residue

Synonyms

  • 渣— dregs, residue
  • 糟— dregs, waste
  • 滓— sediment, dregs

Antonyms

  • 精— essence, refined
  • 华— essence, splendor
  • 粹— pure essence

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • The leftover dregs from soybeans after making tofu (豆粕).
  • Rice bran is a byproduct of rice milling (米粕).
  • The brewery sells grain residue as animal feed (酒粕).
  • After oil extraction, the remaining meal is used as fertilizer (油粕).

Collocations

  • Soybean meal(豆粕)
  • Rice bran(米粕)
  • Brewer's grains(酒粕)
  • Oil cake(油粕)
  • Grain residue(粮粕)
  • Waste residue(糟粕)

Idioms

  • To discard the dross and select the essential(取其精华，去其糟粕)
  • The dregs of society(社会糟粕)
  • Cultural dross(文化糟粕)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In traditional Chinese agriculture and food processing, '粕' represents the byproducts that still have practical uses, such as animal feed or fertilizer.
  • Metaphorically used in Chinese philosophy and criticism to denote worthless elements that should be eliminated from culture or society.
  • Often appears in the compound 糟粕 (zāopò), meaning 'dregs and waste', used to describe things of no value.

FAQ