SCRUB (scrubbed, scrubbing)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: scrubbed    , scrubbing   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does scrub mean? 

• SCRUB (noun)
  The noun SCRUB has 2 senses:

1. dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes

2. the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water

  Familiarity information: SCRUB used as a noun is rare.

• SCRUB (adjective)
  The adjective SCRUB has 1 sense:

1. (of domestic animals) not selectively bred

  Familiarity information: SCRUB used as an adjective is very rare.

• SCRUB (verb)
  The verb SCRUB has 3 senses:

1. clean with hard rubbing

2. wash thoroughly

3. postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled

  Familiarity information: SCRUB used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SCRUB (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

bush; chaparral; scrub

Hypernyms ("scrub" is a kind of...):

botany; flora; vegetation (all the plant life in a particular region or period)

Derivation:

scrubby (sparsely covered with stunted trees or vegetation and underbrush)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

scouring; scrub; scrubbing

Hypernyms ("scrub" is a kind of...):

cleaning; cleansing; cleanup (the act of making something clean)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "scrub"):

mopping; swabbing (cleaning with a mop)

Derivation:

scrub (wash thoroughly)

scrub (clean with hard rubbing)

• SCRUB (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(of domestic animals) not selectively bred

Similar:

unimproved (not made more desirable or valuable or profitable; especially not made ready for use or marketing)

• SCRUB (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they scrub    ... he / she / it scrubs   
Past simple: scrubbed   
Past participle: scrubbed   
-ing form: scrubbing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Clean with hard rubbing

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

scour; scrub

Context example:

She scrubbed his back

Hypernyms (to "scrub" is one way to...):

rub (move over something with pressure)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "scrub"):

holystone (scrub with a holystone)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The chefs scrub the vegetables

Derivation:

scrub (the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water)

scrubber (a brush with short stiff bristles for heavy cleaning)

scrubber (a worker who uses a scrub brush to clean a surface (usually a floor or deck))

scrubbing (the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Wash thoroughly

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

scrub; scrub up

Context example:

surgeons must scrub prior to an operation

Hypernyms (to "scrub" is one way to...):

lave; wash (cleanse (one's body) with soap and water)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

scrub (the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

call off; cancel; scratch; scrub

Context example:

scratch that meeting--the chair is ill

"Scrub" entails doing...:

schedule (make a schedule; plan the time and place for events)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

Why, you know I don't mind hard jobs much, and there must always be one scrub in a family.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Springing out from among the scrub the ape-men with huge clubs broke in upon the Indians and often felled three or four of them before they could be speared.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You can have the principal to keep for yourself, if you'll use the thirty-five dollars a month for cooking and washing and scrubbing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A natural alkaloid with an acridine structure isolated from the bark of the plant Acronychia baueri (Australian scrub ash) with antineoplastic properties.

(Acronine, NCI Thesaurus)

Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) Vacuum, scrub or sweep floors.

(FIQR - Vacuum Scrub or Sweep Floors, NCI Thesaurus)

There was Aylward squatting cross-legged in his shirt, while he scrubbed away at his chain-mail brigandine, whistling loudly the while.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To much confabulation succeeded a sound of scrubbing and setting to rights; and when I passed the room, in going downstairs to dinner, I saw through the open door that all was again restored to complete order; only the bed was stripped of its hangings.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The white rock, visible enough above the brush, was still some eighth of a mile further down the spit, and it took me a goodish while to get up with it, crawling, often on all fours, among the scrub.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"Oh, dear, what a blunderbuss I am!" exclaimed Jo, finishing Meg's glove by scrubbing her gown with it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But on the fourth side—that which sloped down in the direction of the lake—there was only low scrub, with scattered trees and occasional open glades.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)