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Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
scrub1 verb (scrubbed, scrubbing) 1 tr & intr to rub hard, especially with a stiff brush, in order to remove dirt. 2 to wash or clean by hard rubbing. 3 colloq to cancel or abandon (plans, etc) • Scrub your plans for a day out, you're needed here. 4 to purify (a gas). 5 intrans to use a scrubbing brush. 6 intrans to make a rapid to-and-fro movement as if scrubbing. noun an act of scrubbing.
ETYMOLOGY: 14c: from German schrubben.
scrub up said of a surgeon, etc: to wash the hands and arms thoroughly before performing, or assisting at, an operation. |
scrub2 noun 1 vegetation consisting of stunted trees and evergreen shrubs collectively. 2 (also scrubland) an area, usually with poor soil or low rainfall, containing such vegetation. 3 an inferior domestic animal of mixed or unknown parentage. 4 N Amer a player in a second or inferior team. 5 a small or insignificant person. 6 anything small or insignificant. 7 (the scrub) Austral colloq a remote place far from civilization. adj 1 small or insignificant. 2 N Amer said of a player: in a second or inferior team.
ETYMOLOGY: 14c: a variant of shrub1.
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Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
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