Advertisement
Advertisement
scrub
1[ skruhb ]
verb (used with object)
- to rub hard with a brush, cloth, etc., or against a rough surface in washing.
- to subject to friction; rub.
- to remove (dirt, grime, etc.) from something by hard rubbing while washing.
- Chemistry. to remove (impurities or undesirable components) from a gas by chemical means, as sulfur dioxide from smokestack gas or carbon dioxide from exhaled air in life-support packs.
- to cancel or postpone (a space flight or part of a mission):
Ground control scrubbed the spacewalk.
- Slang. to do away with; cancel:
Scrub your vacation plans—there's work to do!
- Computers.
- to perform routine maintenance on (data) in memory or storage with scans that detect and correct data corruption:
The system is automated to scrub and archive all active records in the database.
- to permanently erase (a hard drive, server, etc.), usually by writing over space where data had been stored and was later deleted, so that deleted data cannot be recovered:
Scrub your computer’s hard drive before you sell or donate it.
- to delete (negative or damaging online content relating to someone or something) so as to erase it from public record or social media: Before applying for jobs, I scrubbed a bunch of posts from my hard-partying past.
The marketing team scrubbed the disgraced celebrity spokesperson from their website within hours of the scandal.
Before applying for jobs, I scrubbed a bunch of posts from my hard-partying past.
verb (used without object)
- to cleanse something by hard rubbing.
- Digital Technology. to fast-forward or rewind in an audio or video file by dragging the progress marker forward or backward across the timeline bar:
Scrub forward through the pregame and start playback from the kickoff.
noun
- an act or instance of scrubbing.
- a canceled or postponed space flight, launching, scheduled part of a space mission, etc.
- something, as a cosmetic preparation, used for scrubbing.
- scrubs, a uniform, durably designed for frequent washing and sanitizing, usually consisting of pants and a loose-fitting top, worn by doctors, nurses, and other medical staff, especially during surgery: nursing scrubs.
surgical scrubs;
nursing scrubs.
verb phrase
- to cleanse one's hands and arms as a preparation to performing or assisting in surgery.
scrub
2[ skruhb ]
noun
- low trees or shrubs collectively.
- a large area covered with low trees and shrubs, as the Australian bush.
- a domestic animal of mixed or inferior breeding; mongrel.
- a small or insignificant person.
- anything undersized or inferior.
- Sports. a player not belonging to the varsity or regular team; a player who is not first-string.
adjective
- small, undersized, or stunted.
- inferior or insignificant.
- abounding in or covered with low trees and shrubs:
They rode through scrub country.
scrub
1/ skrʌb /
noun
- vegetation consisting of stunted trees, bushes, and other plants growing in an arid area
- ( as modifier )
scrub vegetation
- an area of arid land covered with such vegetation
- an animal of inferior breeding or condition
- ( as modifier )
a scrub bull
- a small or insignificant person
- anything stunted or inferior
- sport a player not in the first team
- the scrub informal.a remote place, esp one where contact with people can be avoided
adjective
- small, stunted, or inferior
- sport
- (of a player) not in the first team
- (of a team) composed of such players
- (of a contest) between scratch or incomplete teams
scrub
2/ skrʌb /
verb
- to rub (a surface) hard, with or as if with a brush, soap, and water, in order to clean it
- to remove (dirt), esp by rubbing with a brush and water
- intrfoll byup (of a surgeon) to wash the hands and arms thoroughly before operating
- tr to purify (a vapour or gas) by removing impurities
- informal.tr to delete or cancel
- slang.intr horse racing (of jockeys) to urge a horse forwards by moving the arms and whip rhythmically forwards and backwards alongside its neck
noun
- the act of or an instance of scrubbing
Other Words From
- scrubba·ble adjective
- non·scrubba·ble adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of scrub1
Word History and Origins
Origin of scrub1
Origin of scrub2
Example Sentences
With the right ingredients and composition, a scalp scrub can bring you relief from itchiness and dryness as well as lasting satisfaction by improving your overall hair health.
While you’re scrubbing, Permar said, the most important thing to focus on is “getting soap everywhere, which takes 20 seconds to accomplish.”
To keep shoppers and employees safe—or least feeling safe—companies are scrubbing down high-traffic areas, disinfecting surfaces such as touchscreens more frequently, and even employing robots to wipe floors.
Standing in his scrubs, Akhtar had no idea when, or if, he would get back on the grid.
Have a copywriter familiar with regional dialects scrub through your copy to look for words, spelling, and colloquialisms that might not make sense for the area you’re targeting.
Do as Tumblr has done and scrub her last words off the Internet—erase everything she wanted the world to hear.
Havens is optimistic that if PHA beads could be used successfully in cosmetics without losing their ability to scrub.
It depicts an exhausted Texas oil field on scrub land, an old railroad bed and a watery ditch converging in the distance.
Mountain passes lead to high plains dotted with green scrub and otherworldly rock outcroppings.
The newest edition adapts the same principles to the digital age and urges kids to scrub their Facebook pages.
Our mothers their nurse-women, our sisters their scrub-women, our daughters their maid-women, and our wives their washer-women.
Before he could draw a bead, the rabbit vanished behind a distant scrub oak.
The scrub was so thick that they had to climb together and follow-my-leader along what appeared to be cattle tracks up the hill.
In their company we now made our way Northwards along a path through fairly thick scrub as high as a man's waist.
Ignoring the presence of his rival, Lamont passed aside and entered the scrub bush which fringed the odorous forest.
Advertisement
About This Word
What else does scrub mean?
Scrub is slang for someone who is just plain bad at something—a no-talent hack. This could be in sports, video games, or thanks to TLC’s hit song, relationships.
Where does scrub come from?
Scrub has been slang for an “insignificant or contemptible person” since the 1500s. Over the centuries, the term was used as a slur to denigrate prostitutes and even Black people for a time. In the late 1800s, scrub was being used by athletes to deride inferior opponents. The term derives from a form of shrub.
In the 1990s, R&B girl group, TLC, helped make scrub a household term seemingly every woman in the 2000s used to describe broke guys. On the chorus of their 1999 track “No Scrubs,” TLC bops: “No, I don’t want no scrubs / A scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me / Hangin’ out the passenger side of his best friend’s ride / Trying to holla at me.”
Scrub spread to video game culture in the 2010s, seeing heavy use on Steam, GameFAQs, and Reddit. Early on, it was especially used in fighting game communities for a poor or new player, (noob) but it since has expanded into other genres.
How is scrub used in real life?
Scrub is a general insult for someone who is bad at something. It can be applied in a range of contexts, from sports to video games to dating. Regarding the latter, a scrub usually refers to a man, though women aren’t exempt from the “lowlife” insult.
More examples of scrub:
“[Tristan] Thompson has never been an elite player, but ever since he started dated Khloe, his performances have really gone downhill. He’s not the great offensive rebounder he once was, and is looking more and more like an overpaid scrub.”
—Nemanja Vukasinovic, Fadeaway World, August 2018
Note
This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse