residue Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun matter that remains after something has been removed
noun something left after other parts have been taken away
residuum; residual; rest; balance; remainder.
- there was no remainder
- he threw away the rest
- he took what he wanted and I got the balance

F. résidu, L. residuum, fr. residuus that is left behind, remaining, fr. residere to remain behind. See Reside, and cf. Residuum.

That which remains after a part is taken, separated, removed, or designated; remnant; remainder.
The residue of them will I deliver to the sword. Jer. xv. 9.

If church power had then prevailed over its victims, not a residue of English liberty would have been saved. I. Taylor.
(Law) That part of a testeator's estate wwhich is not disposed of in his will by particular and special legacies and devises, and which remains after payment of debts and legacies.
(Chem.) That which remains of a molecule after the removal of a portion of its constituents; hence, an atom or group regarded as a portion of a molecule; -- used as nearly equivalent to radical, but in a more general sense. also moiety ✍ The term radical is sometimes restricted to groups containing carbon, the term residue being applied to the others.
(Theory of Numbers) Any positive or negative number that differs from a given number by a multiple of a given modulus; thus, if 7 is the modulus, and 9 the given number, the numbers -5, 2, 16, 23, etc., are residues. Syn. -- Rest; remainder; remnant; balance; residuum; remains; leavings; relics.