different between scrub vs scrubby

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: skr?b, IPA^(key): /sk??b/
• Rhymes: -?b

Etymology 1

Variant of shrub, possibly under Norse influence.This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Adjective

scrub (comparative more scrub, superlative most scrub)

1. Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.
   • 1743, Horace Walpole, letter to Sir Horace Mann

     How solitary, how scrub, does this town look!

   • 1729, Jonathan Swift, The Grand Question Debated of Hamilton's Bawn

     No little scrub joint shall come on my board.

Noun

scrub (plural scrubs)

1. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow.
   • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

     A sorry scrub, said Mr. High-mind.

   • 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield

     We should go there in as proper a manner possible; nor altogether like the scrubs about us.

   • 1999, TLC (band), "No Scrubs" (song)

     A scrub is a guy that thinks he's fly
     And is also known as a buster
     Always talkin' about what he wants
     And just sits on his broke ass […]

2. One who is incompetent or unable to complete easy tasks.

3. A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant
4. (US, stock breeding) One of the common livestock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, especially when inferior in size, etc. Often used to refer to male animals unsuited for breeding.
5. Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush.
6. One not on the first team of players; a substitute.

Derived terms

Translations

Derived terms

• scrub bird
• scrub oak
• scrub robin

Etymology 2

From Middle English scrobben (“groom a horse with a currycomb”); from Middle Dutch schrobben (“clean by scrubbing”).

Verb

scrub (third-person singular simple present scrubs, present participle scrubbing, simple past and past participle scrubbed)

1. (transitive) 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

2. (intransitive) To rub anything hard, especially with a wet brush; to scour
3. (intransitive, figuratively) To be diligent and penurious

4. (transitive) To call off a scheduled event; to cancel.

5. (databases, transitive) To eliminate or to correct data from a set of records to bring it inline with other similar datasets

6. (audio) To move a recording tape back and forth with a scrubbing motion to produce a scratching sound, or to do so by a similar use of a control on an editing system.
7. (audio, video) To maneuver the play position on a media editing system by using a scroll bar or touch-based interface.

   Synonym: seek

Derived terms

• scrub off
• scrub out
• scrub up

Translations

Noun

scrub (plural scrubs)

1. An instance of scrubbing.
2. A cancellation.
   • 1988, AIAA 26th Aerospace Sciences Meeting: January 11-14

     Unacceptable winds aloft caused four scrubs and one hold; adverse weather caused a scrub; […]

3. A worn-out brush.
4. One who scrubs.
5. (medicine, in the plural) Clothing worn while performing surgery.
6. (by extension, in the plural) Any medical uniform consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and pants (trousers).
   • 2014, Jeff Jacobson, Growth (page 23)

     A man dressed as a lab tech, his blue scrubs startlingly pale against the vivid red and black chaos, moved into sight from behind the SUV. He carried an assault rifle.

7. An exfoliant for the body.

Synonyms

• (clothing worn during surgery): surgical gown

Translations

Anagrams

• curbs

English

Etymology

scrub +? -y

Adjective

scrubby (comparative scrubbier, superlative scrubbiest)

1. Covered with or consisting of scrub.
2. Inferior in size or quality.

Translations