scrape the bottom of the barrel

S

scrape the bottom of the barrel,
also, scrape the barrel

Meaning

• It is a phrase used to describe something you know is not in good condition, but you have to select it since you don’t have an option of choosing the better one.
• Many situations can make one undergo the same situations.
• It also means pushing a specific situation to the absolute limit.
• The term is used during distress or in times of need.
• Select from among the worst or choose from what is leftover.
• To go the extra length or to milk a particular situation.

Examples Sentence

1. Our school used to admit more than one thousand candidates, but we feel like we have been scraping the bottom of the barrel with the admitted applicants in late admission.
2. You scraped the barrel since the appearance of the new car you bought is bad.
3. They were scraping the bottom of the barrel when they were choosing you.
4. She admitted that she was beginning to scrape the barrel.
5. The department is scraping the bottom of the barrel with the results.
6. And what happens in 30 years when they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas?
7. As all the candidates who came for the interview today were very lousy and dull, I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

Origin

It was delivered from the historical activities in the United States of storing food in barrels. When food supplies run low in the area, the food that remains in the barrel must be removed through scraping. The oil that exists in the barrel has a different weight. The heavy particles of it, like asphalt, sink to the bottom of the barrel, and it becomes difficult to scrape it from the bottom of the barrel.

Assorted