v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Scrubbed p. pr. & vb. n. Scrubbing. ] [ OE. scrobben, probably of Dutch or Scand. origin; cf. Dan. skrubbe, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. “A sorry scrub.” Bunyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

We should go there in as proper a manner as possible; nor altogether like the scrubs about us. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Something small and mean. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A worn-out brush. Ainsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant; as, oak scrub, palmetto scrub, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

7. (Forestry) A low, straggling tree of inferior quality. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Scrub bird (Zool.), an Australian passerine bird of the family Atrichornithidae, 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 (Quercus Catesbaei); that of the Rocky Mountain region is Quercus undulata, var. Gambelii. --
Scrub robin (Zool.), an Australian singing bird of the genus Drymodes. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby. [ 1913 Webster ]

How solitary, how scrub, does this town look! Walpole. [ 1913 Webster ]

No little scrub joint shall come on my board. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Scrub game, a game, as of ball, by unpracticed players. --
Scrub race, a race between scrubs, or between untrained animals or contestants. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Dwarfed or stunted; scrubby. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, scrubs; esp., a brush or machine used in scrubbing. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. (Gas Manuf.) A gas washer. See under Gas. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Manufacturing) a device for removing pollutants from a gas stream, especially for removing sulfur oxides from processes burning coal or oil. [ PJC ]

n. 1. a stunted or emaciated steer. [ PJC ]

2. A person who lives in the bush. [ Australian ] [ PJC ]

3. A domesticated animal which has escaped and lives wild in the bush. [ Australian ] [ PJC ]

n. A baseboard; a mopboard. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Scrubbier superl. Scrubbiest. ] Of the nature of scrub; small and mean; stunted in growth; as, a scrubby cur. “Dense, scrubby woods.” Duke of Argyll. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A species of calciferous sandstone. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]