miso lees; miso dregs; miso strainings
The solid residue left after straining miso; a literal food term.
After making miso soup, miso lees were left.
good-for-nothing; worthless person; left-out child
Colloquial, often used for a child who is excluded or treated as useless by peers; can also refer to any worthless thing or person. Sense 3 (child left out of games) is a specific common usage.
That child is always treated as a good-for-nothing, poor thing.
In the group, only one person was treated like a worthless outcast.
Kanji spelling with 味噌 (miso) and kana; occasionally seen but less common.
Rare kanji form using 滓 (dregs).
Compound of 味噌 (miso) + っかす (dregs/lees). The literal meaning 'miso lees' gave rise to the figurative sense of something worthless or a person treated as useless, similar to English 'dregs of society'.