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scrape the bottom of the barrel

To use the least desirable parts of something.

Etymology:

  • Derived from the historical practice in the early United States of storing food in barrels; when food supplies ran low, only what was on the very bottom of the barrel remained, and had to be removed by scraping.
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They must really have been scraping the bottom of the barrel if they couldn't find a better design than that.

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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Translation

Find a translation for the scrape the bottom of the barrel phrase in other languages:

كشط الجزء السفلي من برميل

מגרדים את קרקעית הקנה

バレルの底をこすります

наскребать

بیرل کے نیچے کھرچنا

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to scrape the bottom of the barrel

scrape togetherlike shooting fish in a barrelGet to the Bottom of SomethingLock, Stock, and Barrelscrape alonglike shooting fish in a barrelscrape throughRotten Apple Spoils the Barrelright in the pickle barrelsoft as a baby's bottomscrape byscrape upput the bottom rail on toprock bottom

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    "scrape the bottom of the barrel." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/scrape-the-bottom-of-the-barrel_6588>.

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