Scrub — Defs

01 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 brig…

imp. & p. p. Scrubbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Scrubbing

1.
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.

02 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.

1.
To rub anything hard, especially with a wet brush; to scour; hence, to be diligent and penurious; as, to scrub hard for a living.

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

1.
One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow.
“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.
4.
A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant; as, oak scrub, palmetto scrub, etc.
5.
One of the common live stock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, esp. when inferior in size, etc.(Stock Breeding) [U.S.]
6.
Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush; -- called also scrub brush. See Brush, above.[Australia & South Africa] Also: scrub brush See: Brush
7.
A low, straggling tree of inferior quality.(Forestry)

Phrases & compounds

Scrub bird — an Australian passerine bird of the family Atrichornithidae, as Atrichia clamosa; -- called also brush bird.

Scrub oak — 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 — an Australian singing bird of the genus Drymodes.

04 a. Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.

1.
Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.
“How solitary, how scrub, does this town look!” — Walpole.

“No little scrub joint shall come on my board.” — Swift.

Phrases & compounds

Scrub game — a game, as of ball, by unpracticed players.

Scrub race — a race between scrubs, or between untrained animals or contestants.