Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that scrubs, especially.
  • noun One who cleans floors, for example, by scrubbing.
  • noun A brush, appliance, or abrasive that is used in cleaning.
  • noun An apparatus that is used for removing impurities from a gas.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An animal which breaks away from the herd, and runs wild in the scrub, generally coming out at night to feed in the open; in the plural, scrub-cattle.
  • noun One who scrubs; specifically, one of a scrub-gang aboard ship.
  • noun A scrubbing-brush.
  • noun An apparatus for freeing coal-gas from tarry impurities and ammonia.
  • noun In leather manufacturing, a machine for washing leather after it comes from the tan-pits.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who, or that which, scrubs; esp., a brush or machine used in scrubbing.
  • noun (Gas Manuf.) A gas washer. See under Gas.
  • noun (Manufacturing) a device for removing pollutants from a gas stream, especially for removing sulfur oxides from processes burning coal or oil.
  • noun a stunted or emaciated steer.
  • noun Australian A person who lives in the bush.
  • noun Australian A domesticated animal which has escaped and lives wild in the bush.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person or appliance that cleans floors etc by scrubbing
  • noun A device that removes impurities from gases
  • noun UK, slang A prostitute, or a slovenly woman

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a worker who uses a scrub brush to clean a surface (usually a floor or deck)
  • noun a brush with short stiff bristles for heavy cleaning
  • noun a purifier that removes impurities from a gas

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

scrub +‎ -er

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Examples

  • Ants have armoured skin, which when added as fragments and shattered carapaces, imparts all the goodness of a skin scrubber.

    Product of Mitchieville 2008

  • The scrubber, which is still in development now, it means that removing one ton of carbon a day is likely just the beginning because it ` s still in development.

    CNN Transcript Jul 24, 2008 2008

  • The scrubber is a vessel containing in its lower part water, W, supplied by a pipe, and having an overflow.

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 324, March 18, 1882 Various

  • This case involves the installation of a wet flue gas desulphurization system (also known as a "scrubber") at Merrimack Station, an electricity generating facility in Bow owned by the appellee, Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH).

    All Stories 2011

  • General features include easy to use spreadsheeting, do not call scrubber, import and export call list.

    Softpedia - Windows - All 2010

  • A machine called a scrubber cleans gases of contaminants.

    NYT > Home Page By KEITH SCHNEIDER 2010

  • General features include easy to use spreadsheeting, do not call scrubber, import and export call list.

    Softpedia - Windows - All 2010

  • Charbroil, but instead uses a nested scrubber, which is very much like a scouring pad or a

    WhiteTrashBBQ 2009

  • That ... again, that project is on time and on budget and then we have a flue gas scrubber, which is going to be done about the same time, fall 2009. $34 million project, we have $13 million to date and will spend $6 million in the fourth quarter and $15 million in 2009.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2008

  • That ... again, that project is on time and on budget and then we have a flue gas scrubber, which is going to be done about the same time, fall 2009. $34 million project, we have $13 million to date and will spend $6 million in the fourth quarter and $15 million in 2009.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2008

Comments

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  • Australian slang: "someone who's rough, low quality"

    "They showed her where to get the best pie and chips in Murray Street, the very thought of which kept her off lunch in general, and they introduced Rose to the addiction of listening in. They were silly, dizzy scrubbers, and she liked them"

    Cloudstreet by Tim Winton, pp 181-182 of the Graywolf Press hardcover edition

    March 31, 2010