\Scrub\, n.
1. Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and
   impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also,
   brush. See {Brush}, above.

\Scrub\ (skr[u^]b), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scrubbed}
(skr[u^]bd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Scrubbing}.] [OE. scrobben,
probably of Dutch or Scand. origin; cf. Dan. sckrubbe, Sw.
skrubba, D. schrobben, LG. schrubben.]
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; as, to scrub a floor, a doorplate.

\Scrub\, v. i.
To rub anything hard, especially with a wet brush; to scour;
hence, to be diligent and penurious; as, to scrub hard for a
living.

\Scrub\, n.
1. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. ``A
   sorry scrub.'' --Bunyan.

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

2. Something small and mean.

3. A worn-out brush. --Ainsworth.

4. A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the
   prevailing plant; as, oak scrub, palmetto scrub, etc.

5. (Stock Breeding) One of the common live stock of a region
   of no particular breed or not of pure breed, esp. when
   inferior in size, etc. [U.S.]

{Scrub bird} (Zo["o]l.), an Australian passerine bird of the
   family {Atrichornithid[ae]}, as {Atrichia clamosa}; --
   called also {brush bird}.

{Scrub oak} (Bot.), the popular name of several dwarfish
   species of oak. The scrub oak of New England and the
   Middle States is {Quercus ilicifolia}, a scraggy shrub;
   that of the Southern States is a small tree ({Q.
   Catesb[ae]i}); that of the Rocky Mountain region is {Q.
   undulata}, var. Gambelii.

{Scrub robin} (Zo["o]l.), an Australian singing bird of the
   genus {Drymodes}.

\Scrub\, a.
Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.

      How solitary, how scrub, does this town look!
                                               --Walpole.

      No little scrub joint shall come on my board. --Swift.

{Scrub game}, a game, as of ball, by unpracticed players.

{Scrub race}, a race between scrubs, or between untrained
   animals or contestants.