A worthless and incidental residuum, such as scraps from a meal, or shavings or sawdust from wood.
The poor survive on the leavings of the rich and wasteful.
1894, E[dith Anna] Œ[none] Somerville, Martin Ross [pseudonym; Violet Florence Martin], chapter XII, in The Real Charlotte[…], volume I, London: Ward and Downey[…], →OCLC, page 168: