shrub

¹

[shruhb]

noun

1. a woody plant smaller than a tree, usually having multiple permanent stems branching from or near the ground.

shrub

²

[shruhb]

noun

1. any of various acidulated beverages made from the juice of fruit, sugar, and other ingredients, often including alcohol.

shrub

¹

/ ʃrʌb /

noun

1. a mixed drink of rum, fruit juice, sugar, and spice

2. mixed fruit juice, sugar, and spice made commercially to be mixed with rum or other spirits

shrub

²

/ ʃrʌb /

noun

1. a woody perennial plant, smaller than a tree, with several major branches arising from near the base of the main stem

shrub

1. A woody plant that is smaller than a tree, usually having several stems rather than a single trunk; a bush.

Other Word Forms

• shrubless adjective
• shrublike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrub¹

before 1000; Middle English shrubbe, Old English scrybb brushwood; cognate with dialectal Danish skrub

Origin of shrub²

1740–50; < Arabic, metathetic variant of shurb drink; sherbet

Word History and Origins

Origin of shrub¹

C18: from Arabic sharāb, variant of shurb drink; see _sherbet

Origin of shrub²

Old English scrybb; related to Middle Low German schrubben coarse, uneven, Old Swedish skrubba to _scrub ¹

Example Sentences

The ostrich stood in the center, nibbling upon a low shrub.

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Climate change has fueled increasingly extreme heat, withering shrubs and grasses.

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Army Corps of Engineers used just over three acres of the park as a processing site for trees and shrubs from the fire zone.

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It was just a field of shrubs and grass and a few scraggly trees.

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What to do about vegetation like shrubs, plants and grasses within the first 5 feet of homes has proved more vexing.

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Related Words

• foliage 
• hedge 
• shrubbery 
• thicket 
• topiary 
• tree