scrubber

1
[ skruhb-er ]
See synonyms for scrubber on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who scrubs.

  2. a device or process for removing pollutants from smoke or gas produced by burning high-sulfur fuels.

  1. a machine or appliance used in scrubbing: an automatic floor scrubber.

Origin of scrubber

1
First recorded in 1830–40; scrub1 + -er1

Other definitions for scrubber (2 of 3)

scrubber2
[ skruhb-er ]

noun
  1. a mongrel, especially a mongrel steer.

  2. a thin or stunted steer.

  1. Australian.

    • an inhabitant of the bush.

    • any domestic animal that has run off into the bush and become wild, especially a steer.

Origin of scrubber

2
First recorded in 1855–60; scrub2 + -er1

Other definitions for scrubber (3 of 3)

scrubber3
[ skruhb-er ]

nounBritish Slang.
  1. a prostitute or promiscuous woman.

Origin of scrubber

3
First recorded in 1955–60; variously explained as sense development of either scrubber1 (in the sense “a person who scrubs; charwoman,” or scrubber2 (in the Australian sense “(female) animal that runs into the bush and becomes wild”; compare earlier scrub in same sense

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use scrubber in a sentence

  • Within the houses scourers and scrubbers are cleaning, dusting and white-washing.

    Rabbi and Priest | Milton Goldsmith
  • At the end of a week it was found that nobody had time to scrub the floors; so scrubbers had to be hired.

  • Next to the question of cooks the most urgent issue to be settled was the case of the scrubbers, cleaners, and drainmen.

    Comrades | Thomas Dixon
  • Her name was Mirren, and her size, as reported by her husband, was "near-aboots as big as twa scrubbers."

    Cleg Kelly, Arab of the City | S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett
  • They agitate the metalliferous material with wooden scrubbers and wash it in a similar way.

    De Re Metallica | Georgius Agricola

British Dictionary definitions for scrubber (1 of 2)

scrubber1

/ (ˈskrʌbə) /


noun
  1. a person or thing that scrubs

  2. an apparatus for purifying a gas

  1. British and Australian derogatory, slang a promiscuous woman

British Dictionary definitions for scrubber (2 of 2)

scrubber2

/ (ˈskrʌbə) /


noun
  1. Australian a domestic animal, esp a bullock, that has run wild in the bush

Origin of scrubber

2
C19: from scrub ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012