Meanings
plural draffs
- uncountableusuallyA byproduct from a brewery, a distillery, or both, often fed to pigs or cattle as part of their ration; often synonymous with distillers' grains, brewers' spent grains, or both (when not differentiated); usually differentiated from potale, at least in technical use, although broad, nontechnical use has often lumped all such byproducts together, especially in the past.
Near-synonyms: brewers' spent grains, BSG, distillers' grains
2 more examples
[…] and thence ſprouteth that obſcene appellation of Sarding ſandes, with the draffe of the carterly Hoblobs thereabouts, concoct or diſgeaſt for a ſcripture, verity, when the right chriſtendome of it, is Cerdicke ſands, or Cerdick ſhore, […]
1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, pages 8–9A crowd immersed in ordure, that appear'd draff of the human body.
c. 1805-1814, Dante Alighieri, Henry Francis Cary (translator), The Divine Comedy Canto 18Synonyms: dregs, hogwash, brewers' spent grains, BSG, distillers' grains
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA byproduct from a brewery, a distillery, or both, often fed to pigs or cattle as part of their ration; often synonymous with distillers' grains, brewers' spent grains, or both (when not differentiated); usually differentiated from potale, at least in technical use, although broad, nontechnical use has often lumped all such byproducts together, especially in the past.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe residue of malt and grain which remains in the mash-kettle after the mashing and lautering process.
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*drabaz
- Old English*dræf
- Middle Englishdraf
- Englishdraff
From Middle English draf, likely from an unrecorded Old English *dræf, from Proto-Germanic *drabaz.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian помия
- помия (pomija)dregs; the wash given to swine or cows
French drêche
- drêchedregs; the wash given to swine or cows
Swedish drank
- drankdregs; the wash given to swine or cows
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with draff
Cite this entry
draff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draff
“draff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draff. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “draff,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draff.
Source: draff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.