Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1760-1836, 1893-1911
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SCRUB, v., n. Also scrubb. Sc. usages:
I. v. 1. As in Eng. Deriv. scrubber, a small bundle of twigs, usually of heather, tied tightly together and used for scouring pots, etc., a pot-scrubber (Rxb. 1825 Jam.), also for scrubbing the inside of a split fish (Mry. 1930).Kcb. 1893 Crockett Stickit Minister 11:
Hae I no' kenned ye sins ye war the size o' twa scrubbers.Mry. 1894 J. Slater Seaside Idylls 33:
A' body kens surely that ye had better fush tae fry; an' noo ye're frying the scrubber.
2. To beat down in bargaining, to exact the utmost value from, to treat in a mean avaricious manner (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 165; Sc. 1880 Jam.). Cf. n., 3.Ags. 1815 W. Gardiner Poems 46:
Some weaver corks like gentle folks They riot on the best, But scrubs their men the gowd to gain.
II. n. 1. A pot-scrubber (Mry., Fif., Lnk. 1969). Also in Eng. dial. See I. 1. above.Dmf. 1836 Carlyle New Letters (1904) I. 18:
Mrs. Cairlile said — she was to fetch us twae Scrubs?
2. A kind of joiner's plane, “the plane that is first used in smoothing wood, the fore-plane, or jack-plane” (Abd. 1825 Jam., 1904 E.D.D.).
3. A mean avaricious person, one who drives hard bargains (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 401; Sc. 1825 Jam.; Uls. 1904 Uls. Jnl. Archaeol. 128). Also in Eng. dial. Adj. scrubby, sordidly mean, niggardly (Sc. 1880 Jam.; Ork., Uls. 1904 E.D.D.; Bnff., Abd., Lth. 1969). Hence scrubbieness, sordid parsimony (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 150).Mry. 1760 Session Papers, Petition C. Stewart (3 Dec.) 2:
Rather a Scrub, than a Man of Expence.m.Lth. 1793 R. Brown Comic Poems (1817) 140:
Hoard up his share, as from a scrub, By force, to take it.Mry. 1803 R. Couper Tourifications II. 125:
Instructed by my guest, that I was both a fool and a scrub.
4. In pl.: the husks of grain after milling (Ork. 1887 Jam., Ork. 1969).Ork. 1893 W. R. Mackintosh Peat-fires 115:
A nice keg of gin, stowed away in a sack of “scrubs”.Ork. 1911 Old-Lore Misc. iv. i. 23:
The plaster on the walls was of the coarsest description possible, being composed of clay, scrubbs, and cow-shaurn.
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"Scrub v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/scrub>
