Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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\ (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\, 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\, 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\, 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.