Scrub (skrub), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scrubbed (skrubd); 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.
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Scrub, 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.
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Scrub, n.
1.
One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. "A sorry scrub." Bunyan.
We should go there in as proper a manner as possible; nor altogether like the scrubs about us.
Goldsmith.
2.
Something small and mean.
3.
A worn-out brush. Ainsworth.
4.
A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant; as, oak scrub, palmetto scrub, etc.
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.]
Scrub bird (Zoöl.), an Australian passerine bird of the family Atrichornithidæ, 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 (Q. Catesbæi); that of the Rocky Mountain region is Q. undulata, var. Gambelii. --
Scrub robin (Zoöl.), an Australian singing bird of the genus Drymodes.
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Scrub, a.
Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.
How solitary, how scrub, does this town look!
Walpole.
No little scrub joint shall come on my board.
Swift.
Scrub game, a game, as of ball, by unpracticed players. --
Scrub race, a race between scrubs, or between untrained animals or contestants.
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Scrub (?), n.
1.
Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush. See Brush, above. [Australia & South Africa]
2. (Forestry)
A low, straggling tree of inferior quality.
© Webster 1913