shrub

¹ American  

[shruhb] / ʃrʌb /

noun

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

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shrub ² American  

[shruhb] / ʃrʌb /

noun

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

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shrub ¹ British  

/ ʃrʌb /

noun

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

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shrub ² British  

/ 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

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shrub Scientific  

/ shrŭb /

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

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Other Word Forms

• shrubless adjective
• shrublike adjective

Etymology

Origin of shrub¹

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

Origin of shrub¹

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

Example Sentences

Their findings show that early farming communities carefully painted flowers, shrubs, branches, and trees, arranging them in ways that reflect deliberate geometric structure and numerical order.

From Science Daily

The controversy around the draft regulations center around the proposal to remove virtually all healthy vegetation, including shrubs and grasses, from the zone.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From Literature

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

From Los Angeles Times

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

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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