shrub

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A woody plant of relatively low height, having several stems arising from the base and lacking a single trunk; a bush.
2. n. A beverage made from fruit juice, sugar, and a liquor such as rum or brandy.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A woody plant with stems branched from or near the ground, and, in general, smaller than a tree; a bush, or woody vine. The line which divides trees from shrubs is to a large extent arbitrary, and is often very unsatisfactory in application, but in general the name shrub may be applied to a woody plant of less size than a tree, with several permanent woody stems dividing from the bottom, more slender and lower than in a tree. The line between shrub and herb is also indistinct, as many herbaceous plants are more or less woody. For practical purposes shrubs are divided into the deciduous and evergreen kinds. There are many very ornamental flowering shrubs, among the best-known of which are those belonging to the genera Rosa, Rhododendron, Kalmia, Viburnum, Philadelphus, Vaccinium. Among evergreen shrubs are the box and various heaths. Compare tree, herb.
2. n. Synonyms Bush, Herb, etc. See vegetable, n.
3. To prune down so that a shrubby form shall be preserved.
4. To reduce (a person) to poverty by winning his whole stock: a word used at play.
5. n. A drink or cordial prepared from the juice of fruit and various other ingredients. A drink made by boiling currant-juice about ten minutes with an equal weight of sugar, and adding a little rum: it is also made with other fruits, and sometimes with brandy.
6. n. A cordial or syrup consisting of the acid juice of some fruit, as the raspberry, cooked with sugar and vinegar, and diluted with water when used.
7. An obsolete form of scrub.
8. To clear land of small growth by cutting it off at the ground.

Wiktionary

1. n. A woody plant smaller than a tree, and usually with several stems from the same base.
2. v. obsolete To lop; to prune.
3. n. A liquor composed of vegetable acid, fruit juice (especially lemon), sugar, sometimes vinegar, and a small amount of spirit as a preservative. Modern shrub is usually non-alcoholic, but in earlier times it was often mixed with a substantial amount of spirit such as brandy or rum, thus making it a liqueur.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A liquor composed of vegetable acid, especially lemon juice, and sugar, with spirit to preserve it.
2. n. (Bot.) A woody plant of less size than a tree, and usually with several stems from the same root.
3. v. obsolete To lop; to prune.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems