Definition of Scrub

1. Noun. Dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes.

Exact synonyms: Bush, Chaparral
Generic synonyms: Botany, Flora, Vegetation
Derivative terms: Bushy, Scrubby

2. Verb. Clean with hard rubbing. "The chefs scrub the vegetables"; "She scrubbed his back"
Exact synonyms: Scour
Generic synonyms: Rub
Specialized synonyms: Holystone
Derivative terms: Scour, Scourer, Scouring, Scrubber, Scrubber, Scrubbing

3. Adjective. (of domestic animals) not selectively bred.
Similar to: Unimproved

4. Noun. The act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water.
Exact synonyms: Scouring, Scrubbing
Generic synonyms: Cleaning, Cleansing, Cleanup
Specialized synonyms: Mopping, Swabbing
Derivative terms: Scour

5. Verb. Wash thoroughly. "Surgeons must scrub prior to an operation"
Exact synonyms: Scrub Up
Generic synonyms: Lave, Wash

6. Verb. Postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled. "Scratch that meeting--the chair is ill"
Exact synonyms: Call Off, Cancel, Scratch
Entails: Schedule
Derivative terms: Cancellation

Definition of Scrub

1. v. t. 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.

2. 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.

3. n. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow.

4. a. Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.

5. n. Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush. See Brush, above.

Definition of Scrub

1. Adjective. Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby. ¹

2. Noun. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. ¹

3. Noun. One who is a freak or unable to complete easy tasks. ¹

4. Noun. A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant; as, oak '''scrub''', palmetto '''scrub''', etc. ¹

5. Noun. (US stock breeding) One of the common livestock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, especially when inferior in size, etc. Often used to refer to male animals unsuited for breeding. ¹

6. Noun. Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush. ¹

7. Noun. (gaming) One who is no longer new to a game but still exhibits novice tendencies. ¹

8. Noun. One not on the first team of players, a substitute. ¹

9. Verb. (transitive) 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. ¹

10. Verb. (intransitive) To rub anything hard, especially with a wet brush; to scour; ¹

11. Verb. (intransitive figuratively) To be diligent and penurious; as, to '''scrub''' hard for a living. ¹

12. Verb. (transitive) To call off a scheduled event; to cancel. ¹

13. Verb. (databases transitive) To eliminate or to correct data from a set of records to bring it inline with other similar datasets ¹

14. Noun. An instance of scrubbing. ¹

15. Noun. A cancellation. ¹

16. Noun. A worn-out brush. ¹

17. Noun. One who scrubs. ¹

18. Noun. (medicine plural) Clothing worn while performing surgery. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Scrub

1. to rub hard in order to clean [v SCRUBBED, SCRUBBING, SCRUBS]

Medical Definition of Scrub

1. 1. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. "A sorry scrub." "We should go there in as proper a manner possible; nor altogether like the scrubs about us." (Goldsmith) 2. Something small and mean. 3. A worn-out brush. 4. A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant; as, oak scrub, palmetto scrub, etc. 5. One of the commen live stock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, especially. When inferior in size, etc. Scrub bird, an Australian passerine bird of the family Atrichornithidae, as Atrichia clamosa; called also brush bird. Scrub oak, an Australian singing bird of the genus Drymodes. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Scrub

scrounging
scroungy
scrow
scrowdge
scrowdged
scrowdges
scrowl
scrowle
scrowled
scrowles
scrowling
scrowls
scrows
scroyle
scroyles
scrub (current term)
scrub-bird
scrub beefwood
scrub bird
scrub birds
scrub brush
scrub bull
scrub fowl
scrub nurse
scrub oak
scrub oaks
scrub palmetto
scrub pine
scrub plane
scrub robin

Literary usage of Scrub

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages with by Edward Ellis Morris (1898)
"scrub-cattle, n. escaped cattle that run wild in the scrub, ... He is one of those infernal scrub- danglers from the Lachlan, come across to get a feed. ..."

2. Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases, and Usages by Edward Ellis Morris (1898)
"He is one of those infernal scrub- danglers from the Lachlan, ... scrub-rider, n. a man who rides through the scrub in search of scrub-cattle (qv). 1881. ..."

3. The Dramatic Works of Wycherley, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and Farquhar: With by William Wycherley, William Congreve, Leigh Hunt, John Vanbrugh, George Farquhar (1840)
"scrub. Talk ! ay, sir, had I not learned the knack of holding my tongue, ... scrub. That jade, Gipsy, that was with us just now in the cellar, ..."

4. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"043) the scrub- birds were declared to form a distinct Family, ... differing from are said to inhabit the thickest " scrub " or brushwood forest ..."

5. Representative English Dramas from Dryden to Sheridan by Frederick Tupper, James Waddell Tupper (1914)
"scrub. That jade, Gipsy, that was with us just now in the cellar, ... Are you in love with her person or her virtue, brother scrub ? scrub. ..."

6. The American Naturalist by American Society of Naturalists, Essex Institute (1898)
"Concerning the Etonia scrub, which has been a source of speculation and wonder to every botanist who has seen it, we quote the following : " The great ..."

7. Plant Indicators: The Relation of Plant Communities to Process and Practice by Frederic Edward Clements (1920)
"The desert scrub, or mesquite, resembles sagebrush and chaparral in both appearance ... The characteristic feature which distinguishes the desert scrub most ..."

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