scrub

/skrəb/

/skrəb/

Other forms: scrubbed; scrubbing; scrubs

When you scrub something, you wash it forcefully. You might scrub your dirty bathtub with a brush and some bleach, for example.

When you scrub your floor, you use elbow grease — in other words, you work hard to get the floor clean. You might need to scrub your fingernails after a morning working on your car's engine, rubbing with a nail brush to get the grease off. Word experts think that scrub comes from the Middle Low German word schrubben, which also means "to scrub."

Definitions of scrub

1. verb

   wash thoroughly
   “surgeons must scrub prior to an operation”

   synonyms: scrub up

   type of:

   lave, wash

   cleanse (one's body) with soap and water
2. verb

   clean with hard rubbing
   “She scrubbed his back”

   synonyms: scour

   types:

   holystone

   scrub with a holystone

   type of:

   rub

   move over something with pressure
3. noun

   the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water
   synonyms: scouring, scrubbing

   types:

   mopping, swabbing

   cleaning with a mop

   type of:

   cleaning, cleansing, cleanup

   the act of making something clean
4. verb

   postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled
   “we had to scrub our vacation plans”

   synonyms: call off, cancel, scratch
5. noun

   dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes
   synonyms: bush, chaparral

   type of:

   botany, flora, vegetation

   all the plant life in a particular region or period
6. adjective

   (of domestic animals) not selectively bred
   synonyms:

   unimproved

   not made more desirable or valuable or profitable; especially not made ready for use or marketing