Definitions for the word "scrub" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. 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 brightening; as, to scrub a floor, a doorplate.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. 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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
3. n.
One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. n.
Something small and mean.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
5. n.
A worn-out brush.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
6. n.
A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant; as, oak scrub, palmetto scrub, etc.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. n.
One of the common live stock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, esp. when inferior in size, etc.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
8. a.
Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
9. v.
(-bb-) 1 clean by rubbing, esp. With a hard brush and water. 2 (often foll. By up) (of a surgeon etc.) Clean and disinfect the hands and arms before operating. 3 colloq. Scrap or cancel. 4 use water to remove impurities from (gases etc.). n. Scrubbing or being scrubbed. [low german or dutch]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
10. n.
1 a brushwood or stunted forest growth. B land covered with this. 2 (attrib.) Small or dwarf variety (scrub pine). scrubby adj. [from *shrub]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
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