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scrub

USSKRUB/skɹʌb/

Verbscrubs, scrubbing, scrubbed

Noun pluralscrubs (some meanings)

19 meanings of scrub

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To rub something hard to clean or brighten it, usually with a wet brush or something coarse; also, to do this kind of hard cleaning.

    She knelt to scrub the stains out of the porch steps with a stiff brush.

    He scrubbed the old pans with steel wool until the copper gleamed.

    UsageOften with a result or particle: scrub a floor clean, scrub a stain off or out of something.

    Note

    Grooming a horse is where the verb starts: Middle English scrobben meant working a horse over with a currycomb, and it came from Middle Dutch schrobben, "to clean by scrubbing". The coarse tool and the hard rubbing stayed when the horse left, and the usual objects now are floors, pans and fingernails.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The verb comes from Middle English scrobben, meaning to groom a horse with a currycomb, from Middle Dutch schrobben, meaning to clean by scrubbing. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 2
    noununcountable
    Stunted trees and bushes growing thickly in poor, dry or sandy soil, or land covered with them; often named after the main plant, as in palmetto scrub.

    Beyond the dunes, the land gave way to thorny scrub that tore at their legs.

    Ranchers cleared the scrub to plant grass for their cattle.

    Similarbrush, bush, brushwood

  3. 3
    skin productnouncountable
    A skin-care product rubbed on the body to remove dead skin cells; an exfoliant.

    The spa offers a sea-salt scrub followed by an hour-long massage.

    Dermatologists suggest using gentle scrubs only once or twice a week to avoid irritation.

    Similarexfoliant, exfoliator

  4. 4
    medical clothesnouncountableplural
    Any medical uniform made up of a short-sleeved shirt and pants; usually plural.

    The night nurse, in faded blue scrubs, checked each patient's chart before the end of her shift.

    The dental hygienist wore a scrub top printed with cartoon teeth.

    UsageUsually scrubs with a verb like are (her scrubs are blue); scrub comes before nouns: scrub top, scrub pants.

  5. 5
    cleaning effortnouncountable
    An act of scrubbing: a spell of hard rubbing to clean something.

    After a long scrub with a stiff brush, the deck looked almost new.

    The grill could use a scrub before the guests arrive.

    UsageOften give something a scrub or a good scrub.

    Similarrub, wash, clean

  6. 6
    cancelverbtransitive
    To cancel a scheduled event or undertaking before it goes ahead.

    Mission control scrubbed the launch with ninety seconds left on the clock.

    We may have to scrub Saturday's hike if the trail is still flooded.

    Similarcancel, abort, scrap

  7. 7
    nouncountable
    A thing used for scrubbing, such as a stiff brush or a scouring pad.

    Keep a nylon scrub by the sink for the roasting pans.

    Copper scrubs lift burnt-on food but can scratch a nonstick pan.

    Similarscourer

  8. 8
    fix dataverbtransitive
    To find and correct or remove errors, duplicates, and inconsistencies in a set of records so that the data is accurate and consistent.

    Analysts scrub the customer list to remove duplicates and fix misspelled street names.

    Before the merger, the vendor's files had to be scrubbed so that dates and zip codes followed one format.

    Similarclean, cleanse

    Note

    Data work borrows the cleaning image wholesale: records are often scrubbed before they are merged or loaded, with duplicates removed, misspellings fixed and formats made to agree.

  9. 9
    verbintransitive
    To move quickly backward or forward through an audio or video recording to find a particular point, by dragging a slider or control, or originally by rocking the tape by hand.

    Editors scrub along the timeline to find the exact frame where a cut should fall.

    She scrubbed through two hours of footage before she found the moment the goal went in.

    UsageUsually scrub through a recording, or scrub back or along a timeline.

    Similarscroll, skim, scan, shuttle

    Note

    To scrub is to play as you move: as the playhead is dragged along the timeline, the picture or sound follows its speed and direction, so an editor can stop on the exact frame a cut needs. The word carries over the older editor's gesture of rocking tape back and forth by hand, now made with a scroll bar or a fingertip.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 2, 11–12, 14–16

Shrub took this altered form in late Middle English, and at first it meant "stunted tree."

Meanings 1, 3–10, 13, 17

Middle Dutch schrobben ("to clean by scrubbing") gave Middle English scrobben, which meant "to groom a horse with a currycomb."