scroylet (skroil)

[Appar. orig. applied to a scrofulous person; And the black horse was counted the best on the coast. 3. A worn-out brush; a stunted broom. Imp. Dict.-4. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a drudge; a mean or common fellow. They are esteemed scrubs and fools by reason of their carriage. Burton , Anat. of Mel., p. 188. We should go there in as proper a manner as po ible; not altogether like the scrubs about us. Goldsmith, Vicar, x. 5. A worn-out or worthle horse, ox, or other animal, or one of a common or inferior breed. Observation, and especially conversation with those farmers who get on the trains, convinces me that raising scrubs can be set down against the East rather than against the middle Sci. Amer., N. S., LV. 373. 6. Anything small and mean. [Colloq.] II. a. Of inferior breed or stunted growth; ill-conditioned; hence, scraggy; shabby; mean; scurvy; contemptible; small. With a dozen large ve els my vault shall be stor'd; No little scrub joint shall come on my board. Swift . He finds some sort of scrub acquaintance. Swift, Journal to Stella, xxviii. With much difficulty we got together a scrub wagon team of four as unkempt, dejected, and vicious-looking broncos as ever stuck fast in a quicksand. T. Roosevelt, The Century, XXXVI. 200. Scrub birch. See birch. - Scrub crew, nine, etc., in contests or games, a crew, nine, or the like, the members of which have not trained beforehand. - Scrub race or game, a race or game for which the contestants have not trained beforehand; an impromptu race or game entered into for amusement, not for a prize. scrub2 (skrub), v.; pret. and pp. scrubbed, ppr. scrubbing. [ G. schrub ben, scour, scrub), = Dan. skrubbe = Sw. skrub ba, rub, scrub (cf. Norw. skrubb, a scrubbing brush), orig. to rub with a scrub or small bush, i. e. a handful of twigs: see scrub1, shrub. Cf. broom1, a brush, likewise named from the plant.] I. trans. To rub hard, either with a brush or other instrument or a cloth, or with the bare hand, for the purpose of cleaning, scouring, or making bright; cleanse, scour, or polish by rubbing with something rough. We lay here all the day, and scrubb'd our new Bark, that if ever we should be chased we might the better escape. Dampier, Voyages, I. 4. Now Moll had whirl'd her mop with dextrous airs, Prepar'd to scrub the entry and the stairs. Swift, Morning. II. in trans. 1. To cleanse, scour, or polish things by rubbing them with something rough or coarse; rub hard.-2. To drudge; grub: as, to scrub hard for a living. [Colloq.]