scrub

«scrub» in Mova's school dictionary: to clean something by rubbing it hard, often with a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (scrub, scrubs, scrubbed, scrubbing); noun (scrub — uncountable land; a scrub — a hard rub; scrubs — doctors' clothes)

meaning for a pupil

1) To scrub means to clean something by rubbing it hard, often with a brush, soap and water. tree →

2) Scrub is land covered with low bushes and small trees, with little grass. tree →

3) Scrubs are the loose, plain clothes that doctors and nurses wear in hospital. tree →

4) To scrub something (informal) means to cancel it. tree →

5) A scrub is a quick wash in water. tree →

sense in the lessons

Everyday life and hygiene: scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap to wash off germs; scrub muddy knees, pots and floors. In geography and science, scrub (or scrubland, the Australian «bush» or «mallee scrub») is a habitat in dry places. Phrases: scrub your hands, scrub the floor, scrub brush, scrub up, scrubland.

examples

• Scrub your hands with soap for twenty seconds. tree →
• Dad scrubbed the burnt pan until it shone. tree →
• I scrubbed the mud off my football boots. tree →
• The path went through dry scrub full of lizards. tree →
• Doctors scrub up before an operation. tree →
• The nurse was wearing blue scrubs. tree →
• Give the potatoes a good scrub before cooking. tree →
• Rain made them scrub the school trip. tree →
• "My Father!" says the Prince; "let an old fellow of ours have a scrub first, just to try the bath-room." tree →

note

Double b before -ed and -ing: scrubbed, scrubbing. «Scrub» (land) is uncountable. Scrubbing too hard can hurt skin; scrub well but gently. «Scrub up» means wash thoroughly, especially a surgeon's hands and arms.

In the corpora

• Teeth are brushed gently in small circles with a soft brush, because hard scrubbing hurts the gums and wears the teeth.
• Nails are kept short and clean, and dirt is scrubbed from under them, because germs collect there.
• Nails are kept short and clean, with dirt scrubbed out from under them, because germs collect there.
• On Friday Finn told the teacher it was him, said sorry to Rory and scrubbed the wall clean himself.
• Cleaning machines do the boring jobs people once did by hand: scrubbing clothes, wringing them out, beating carpets and pressing creases.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «scrub» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.