shrub

[shruhb]

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

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

Related formsshrub·less, adjectiveshrub·like, adjective

shrub

[shruhb]

noun

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

Origin of shrub

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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.
Six Letters From the Colonies
Robert Seaton
The shrub grows wild on elevations between 1000 and 4000 feet.
The Hawaiian Islands
The Department of Foreign Affairs
Marie stooped to pluck a flower, and slipped behind the shrub.
The Traitors
E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

British Dictionary definitions for shrub

shrub

noun

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

Derived Formsshrublike, adjective

Word Origin for shrub

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

shrub

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for shrub

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.)).