Meanings
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1
noun
waste material separated from metal during smelting or refining
A dark crust of slag floated on the molten iron.
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2
noun
waste rock or other refuse left by mining or industrial processing
Old heaps of slag still surrounded the abandoned colliery.
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3
verb
to form, remove, or convert material into slag
The impurities slagged as the furnace reached full heat.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle Low German slagge, 'dross or slag,' from a Germanic verb meaning 'to strike.' It probably first referred to fragments struck from hot metal, then to the glassy waste separated from ore during smelting.