scrub

Noun · Verb · Adjective
Synonyms: chaparralbushscrubbingscouringscourscrub upcancelcall offscratch

WordNet 3.0

Noun (2)

  1. dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushesSynonyms: chaparralbush
  2. the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and waterSynonyms: scrubbingscouring

Verb (3)

  1. clean with hard rubbing“She scrubbed his back”Synonyms: scour
  2. wash thoroughly“surgeons must scrub prior to an operation”Synonyms: scrub up
  3. postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled“Call off the engagement”“cancel the dinner party”“we had to scrub our vacation plans”“scratch that meeting--the chair is ill”Synonyms: cancelcall offscratch

Adjective (1)

  1. (of domestic animals) not selectively bred
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Scrub \Scrub\ (skr[u^]b), a. Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby. [1913 Webster]

How solitary, how scrub, does this town look! --Walpole. [1913 Webster]

No little scrub joint shall come on my board. --Swift. [1913 Webster]

Scrub game, a game, as of ball, by unpracticed players.

Scrub race, a race between scrubs, or between untrained animals or contestants. [1913 Webster]

Scrub \Scrub\ (skr[u^]b), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scrubbed (skr[u^]bd); p. pr. & vb. n. Scrubbing.] [OE. scrobben, probably of Dutch or Scand. origin; cf. Dan. skrubbe, Sw. skrubba, D. schrobben, LG. schrubben.] To rub hard; to wash with rubbing; usually, to rub with a wet brush, or with something coarse or rough, for the purpose of cleaning or brightening; as, to scrub a floor, a doorplate. [1913 Webster]
Scrub \Scrub\ (skr[u^]b), v. i. To rub anything hard, especially with a wet brush; to scour; hence, to be diligent and penurious; as, to scrub hard for a living. [1913 Webster]
Scrub \Scrub\ (skr[u^]b), n.

1.One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. "A sorry scrub." --Bunyan. [1913 Webster]

We should go there in as proper a manner as possible; nor altogether like the scrubs about us.— Goldsmith.[1913 Webster]

2.Something small and mean. [1913 Webster]

3.A worn-out brush. --Ainsworth. [1913 Webster]

4.A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant; as, oak scrub, palmetto scrub, etc. [1913 Webster]

5.(Stock Breeding) One of the common live stock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, esp. when inferior in size, etc. [U.S.] [1913 Webster]

6.Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush; -- called also scrub brush. See Brush, above. [Australia & South Africa] [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

7.(Forestry) A low, straggling tree of inferior quality. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Scrub bird (Zool.), an Australian passerine bird of the family Atrichornithidae, as Atrichia clamosa; -- called also brush bird.

Scrub oak (Bot.), the popular name of several dwarfish species of oak. The scrub oak of New England and the Middle States is Quercus ilicifolia, a scraggy shrub; that of the Southern States is a small tree (Quercus Catesbaei); that of the Rocky Mountain region is Quercus undulata, var. Gambelii.

Scrub robin (Zool.), an Australian singing bird of the genus Drymodes. [1913 Webster]

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