I. ˈskrəb noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, alteration of schrobbe, shrobbe shrub — more at shrub
1.
a. : a stunted tree or shrub
tundra vegetation … consists of moss, lichen, dwarf scrubs and peat moor — W.G.East
b. : vegetation consisting chiefly of dwarf or stunted trees and shrubs that is often thick and impenetrable and grows in poor soil or in sand
mallee scrub
pine scrub
c. : a tract of country covered with such vegetation (as a palmetto barren of the southern United States)
2.
a. : a domestic animal of mixed or unknown parentage and usually without definite type or markings
b. : mongrel
3.
a. : a person of insignificant size or social standing : nobody , runt
some pimpled dirty little scrub in sandals — Virginia Woolf
b.
(1) : a person of secondary rank : subordinate
represented in the Far East … by incompetents and scrubs — Richard Watts
(2) : a hotel or restaurant worker who substitutes for or assumes part of the responsibility of his superior
4.
a. : a sports contest involving random individuals or teams having fewer than the regular number of players ; specifically : a softball or baseball game in which players participate as individuals rather than as team members and rotate to new positions as each out is made
b.
(1) : a player not belonging to the first string
(2) : a team composed of such players
II. verb
( scrubbed ; scrubbed ; scrubbing ; scrubs )
Etymology: of Low German or Scandinavian origin; akin to Middle Low German & Middle Dutch schrobben, schrubben to scrub, Swedish skrubba, Danish skrubbe
transitive verb
1.
a. : to clean with abrasive action (as by using a washboard or a stiff brush) : scour
scrub clothes
scrub a floor
we scrubbed her with lye and swabbed her down with seawater — Kenneth Roberts
b. : to subject to friction : rub , scratch
scrubbed his eyes in disbelief — Time
rubber tires scrubbed the runway — Horace Sutton
c. : to cleanse and disinfect (the hands and forearms) before participating in surgery
2.
a. : to wash (a gas or vapor) with water, a light hydrocarbon oil, or other liquid to remove impurities or recover desired components
b. : to separate from a gas — often with out
the light oil scrubbed from carbureted water gas
scrub out acetone from tank acetylene
3. : to wipe out : cancel , eliminate
under the tight moon-shooting timetable, a brief delay … can scrub the shoot — Newsweek
200 housing units blueprinted for construction there had been scrubbed when the … budget was reduced — New York Times
intransitive verb
1. : to do washing and scouring
must scrub and clean for you the rest of my life — W.M.Gallichan
2. : to get ready for surgery by scrubbing
the surgeon was preparing to scrub — H.F. & Katharine Pringle
III. noun
( -s )
1. : an act or instance of scrubbing ; specifically : a surgical scrub-up
2.
a. : an implement used for scrubbing : brush
churn brushes, deck scrubs … and sundry others — Country Life
b. : something that resembles a scrub brush
a square military scrub of a moustache — William Sansom
3. : one that scrubs : drudge
hotel scrubs and chambermaids