Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
shrub 1[shruhb] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for shrub on Thesaurus.com noun
- a woody plant smaller than a tree, usually having multiple permanent stems branching from or near the ground.
Origin of shrub 1 before 1000; Middle English shrubbe, Old English scrybb brushwood; cognate with dialectal Danish skrub Related formsshrub·less, adjectiveshrub·like, adjective shrub 2[shruhb] noun
- any of various acidulated beverages made from the juice of fruit, sugar, and other ingredients, often including alcohol.
Origin of shrub 2 1740–50; Arabic, metathetic variant of shurb drink; see sherbet Related Words for shrub hedge, fern, shrubbery, tree, foliage, thicket, topiary, plant, bush, brier, boscage, bosket Examples from the Web for shrub Historical Examples of shrub
A low tree, or usually merely a shrub, from Japan; often cultivated.
Trees of the Northern United States
Austin C. Apgar
A shrub rather than a tree, cultivated from Siberia; hardy throughout.
Trees of the Northern United States
Austin C. Apgar
Nearly every tree and shrub that will grow in this climate is here to be found.
Robert Seaton
The shrub grows wild on elevations between 1000 and 4000 feet.
The Department of Foreign Affairs
Marie stooped to pluck a flower, and slipped behind the shrub.
E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
British Dictionary definitions for shrub shrub 1 noun
- a woody perennial plant, smaller than a tree, with several major branches arising from near the base of the main stem
Derived Formsshrublike, adjectiveWord Origin for shrub Old English scrybb; related to Middle Low German schrubben coarse, uneven, Old Swedish skrubba to scrub 1 shrub 2 noun
- a mixed drink of rum, fruit juice, sugar, and spice
- mixed fruit juice, sugar, and spice made commercially to be mixed with rum or other spirits
Word Origin for shrub C18: from Arabic sharāb, variant of shurb drink; see sherbet Word Origin and History for shrub n.
Old English scrybb “brushwood, shrubbery,” a rare and late word (but preserved also, perhaps, in Shrewsbury), possibly from a Scandinavian source (cf. dialectal Danish skrub “brushwood,” Norwegian skrubba “dwarf tree”). Presumably related to North Frisian skrobb “broom plant, brushwood;” West Flemish schrobbe “climbing wild pea,” with a base notion of “rough plant,” from PIE *(s)kerb-, extended form of root *(s)ker- (1) “to cut” (see shear (v.)).
shrub in Science shrub [shrŭb]
- A woody plant that is smaller than a tree, usually having several stems rather than a single trunk; a bush.