Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Scrub

Scrub

(skrŭb)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Scrubbed
(skrŭbd)
;
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
.

Scrub

(skrŭb)
,
Verb.
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

(skrŭb)
,
Noun.
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
(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
.

Scrub

(skrŭb)
,
Adj.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Scrub

SCRUB

,
Verb.
T.
[This word is probably formed on rub, or its root, and perhaps scrape, L. scribo, may be from the same radix.]
To rub hard, either with the hand or with a cloth or an instrument; usually, to rub hard with a brush, or with something coarse or rough, for the purpose of cleaning, scouring or making bright; as, to scrub a floor; to scrub a deck; to scrub vessels of brass or other metal.

SCRUB

,
Verb.
I.
To be diligent and penurious; as, to scrub hard for a living.

SCRUB

,
Noun.
1.
A mean fellow; one that labors hard and lives meanly.
2.
Something small and mean.
No little scrub joint shall come on my board.
3.
A worn out brush.

Similar Results