4 entries under this word
v. t. [imp. & p. p. SCRUBBED; p. pr. & vb. n. SCRUBBING.] [Dan. skrubbe, Sw. skrubba, D. schrobben, L. Ger. schrubben, to scrub; Gael. sgrob, to scratch or scrape with the nails.] To rub hard; usually, to rub with a brush, or with something coarse or rough, for the purpose of cleaning, scouring, or making bright; as, to scrub a floor; to scrub a deck; to scrub vessels of brass or other metal.
To be diligent and penurious; as, to scrub hard for a living.
n. [See the verb; Ger. schrubber, a worn-out broom to scrub floors with; D. schrobber, id., and a cabin-boy, a shabby or dirty fellow.]
Sense 1. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow.
We should go there in as proper a manner as possible; not altogether like the scrubs about us. Goldsmith.
Sense 2. Something small and mean.
Sense 3. A worn-out brush. Ainsworth.
Sense 4. Close, low growth of bushes; low underwood; as, the Australian scrub. Howitt.
a. Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby. How dismal, how solitary, how scrub does this town look! H. Walpole. No little scrub joint shall come on my board. Swift.