scrub definition | Dictionary.com

scrub

1 [skruhb]

verb, scrubbed, scrub⋅bing, noun

–verb (used with object)

1.	to rub hard with a brush, cloth, etc., or against a rough surface in washing.

2.	to subject to friction; rub.

3.	to remove (dirt, grime, etc.) from something by hard rubbing while washing.

4.	Chemistry. to remove (impurities or undesirable components) from a gas by chemical means, as sulfur dioxide from smokestack gas or carbon dioxide from exhaled air in life-support packs.

5.	to cancel or postpone (a space flight or part of a mission): Ground control scrubbed the spacewalk.

6.	Slang. to do away with; cancel: Scrub your vacation plans—there's work to do!

–verb (used without object)

7.	to cleanse something by hard rubbing.

8.	to cleanse one's hands and arms as a preparation to performing or assisting in surgery (often fol. by up).

–noun

9.	an act or instance of scrubbing.

10.	a canceled or postponed space flight, launching, scheduled part of a space mission, etc.

11.	something, as a cosmetic preparation, used for scrubbing.

Origin:
1300–50; ME scrobben (n.) < MD schrobben

Related forms:

scrub⋅ba⋅ble, adjective

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scrub

2 [skruhb]

–noun

1.	low trees or shrubs collectively.

2.	a large area covered with low trees and shrubs, as the Australian bush.

3.	a domestic animal of mixed or inferior breeding; mongrel.

4.	a small or insignificant person.

5.	anything undersized or inferior.

6.	Sports. a player not belonging to the varsity or regular team; a player who is not first-string.

–adjective

7.	small, undersized, or stunted.

8.	inferior or insignificant.

9.	abounding in or covered with low trees and shrubs: They rode through scrub country.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < Scand; cf. dial. Dan skrub brushwood; see shrub ¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To scrub

scrub¹ (skrŭb)

v. scrubbed, scrub·bing, scrubs

v. tr.

1. To rub hard in order to clean.
2. To remove (dirt or stains) by hard rubbing.
To remove impurities from (a gas) chemically.
Slang To cancel or abandon; drop: We had to scrub our plans for vacation.

v. intr.
To clean or wash something by hard rubbing: Don't forget to scrub behind your ears.
n.

The act or an instance of scrubbing.
pl. scrubs The articles of clothing that make up a scrub suit.

Phrasal Verb(s):
scrub upTo wash the hands and arms thoroughly, as before performing or participating in surgery.

[Middle English scrobben, to currycomb a horse, from Middle Dutch schrobben, to clean by rubbing, scrape; see sker-¹ in Indo-European roots.]
scrub'ba·ble adj.

scrub² (skrŭb)

A straggly, stunted tree or shrub.
A growth or tract of stunted vegetation.
An undersized or poorly developed domestic animal.
An undersized or insignificant person.
Sports A player not on the varsity or first team.
Australian Remote rural land; the bush.

[Middle English, variant of schrubbe; see shrub¹.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Scrub

Scrub\, n. 1. Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush. See Brush, above.

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. sckrubbe, 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.

Scrub

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.

Scrub

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 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 (Zo["o]l.), an Australian passerine bird of the family Atrichornithid[ae], 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. Catesb[ae]i); that of the Rocky Mountain region is Q. undulata, var. Gambelii.

Scrub robin (Zo["o]l.), an Australian singing bird of the genus Drymodes.

Scrub

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.

Language Translation for : scrub

Spanish: fregar bien, restregar,

German: schrubben,

Japanese: ごしごし洗う

More Translations »

scrub (v.)

"rub hard," c.1300, perhaps from M.Du. or M.L.G. schrubben "to scrub," or from an unrecorded O.E. cognate, or from a Scand. source (cf. Dan. skrubbe "to scrub"), probably ult. from some cognate of shrub, used as a cleaning tool (cf. the evolution of broom, brush). Meaning "to cancel" is attested from 1828 (popularized during World War II with ref. to flights), probably from notion of "to rub out, erase." The noun is recorded from 1621.

scrub (n.)

"brush, shrubs," 1398, "low, stunted tree," variant of shrobbe (see shrub), perhaps infl. by a Scand. word (cf. Dan. dial. skrub "a stunted tree, brushwood"). Collective sense is attested from 1805. Transferred sense of "mean, insignificant fellow" is from 1589; U.S. sports meaning "athlete not on the varsity team" is recorded from 1892.

Main Entry: ¹scrub
Pronunciation: 'skr&b
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: scrubbed; scrub·bing
transitive senses
: to clean and disinfect (the hands and forearms) before participating in surgery scrub intransitive senses
: to prepare for surgery by scrubbing oneself

Main Entry: ²scrub
Function: noun
: an act or instance of scrubbing scrub>

scrub

diverse assortment of vegetation types sharing the common physical characteristic of dominance by shrubs. A shrub is defined as a woody plant not exceeding 5 metres (16.4 feet) in height if it has a single main stem, or 8 metres if it is multistemmed. The world's main areas of scrubland occur in regions that have a Mediterranean climate-i.e., warm temperate, with mild, wet winters and long, dry summers. These areas include southern Australia, the Mediterranean region, California, Chile, and South Africa. Other scrublands are found in the semiarid tropics and in the Arctic, but smaller areas also occur in many other places. Australia, primarily because of its dry, variable climates, probably has the greatest expanse and range of scrublands. Their distribution is shown in

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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