shrub
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
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
Other Word Forms
Etymology
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; see sherbet
Explanation
A shrub is a short, tree-like plant with many stems or branches. If you want to tastefully spruce up your front yard, you might plant a flowering shrub or two — or maybe you're the type who would prefer some plastic garden gnomes. Shrubs are similar to trees with two exceptions: they are shorter and have more individual stems, rather than a wide, thick trunk. Some plants, like a hazelnut, can grow into either a shrub or a tree. You can also call a shrub a bush. The origin of shrub is a bit uncertain, but some experts believe it shares a Scandinavian root with the Norwegian skrubba, "dwarf tree."
Vocabulary lists containing shrub
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The paper looked at 40 years of data collected on 40 pronghorn herds residing in the Wyoming Basin Shrub Steppe.
From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2024
He followed it up during the President George W. Bush era with “The Shrub File.”
From Washington Post • Nov. 5, 2022
Shrubs are more delicious than they sound, but have inexplicably started appearing in hipster hangouts in New York and London – see the Shrub and Shutter restaurant in Brixton.
From The Guardian • Dec. 28, 2015
Before becoming chief, Mr. Fanelli volunteered for six years as a fifth-grade catechism teacher at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Shrub Oak, N.Y.
From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2015
“Oh, Shrub, I know it’s hard. But even when he drives me lōlō, I love your dad. He’s my son. Always.”
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
