scrubber en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈskɹʊbə/ (Northern-England)
- /ˈskɹʌbəɹ/ (Northern-Ireland, Scotland)
- /ˈskɹʊbəɹ/ (Ireland)
- /ˈskɹɐbə/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
- /ˈskɹʌbə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
- /ˈskɹʌbɚ/ (US)
Etymology
From scrub + -er.
Meanings
- A person or appliance that cleans floors or similar by scrubbing.
- A soft and flexible handheld polymer-fiber implement for scrubbing tasks.
- A device that removes impurities from gases.
- (historical) A machine for washing leather after the tanpit.
- (Commonwealth) An animal (especially cattle) that has broken away from the herd and established itself in the bush.
-
(Australia) Someone who lives in the bush; a wild person, someone only partly assimilated into society.
‘He was a real scrubber that old feller,’ he confided gleefully. ‘No one never got a tag on him before this.’
2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 74:
-
(Ireland, UK, slang) A prostitute or a slovenly woman.
What did you think, it was happy ever after with a Woodlands Road scrubber in a seaside resort?
2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 267:
- (Ireland, UK, slang) A dirty or unhygienic person.
- (qualifier:video) A horizontal bar allowing the user to set the playback position.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| scrubbers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
cloth · scouring pad · dishcloth · sponge · rag
Deriveds
back scrubber · pot scrubber brush · amine scrubber · venturi scrubber · HCl scrubber · pot scrubber
Translations (6)
cs pračka plynu (a device that removes impurities from gases) · pl skruber (a device that removes impurities from gases) · pl apartat absorpcyjny (a device that removes impurities from gases) · pl płuczka (a device that removes impurities from gases) · cs čistič (a device that removes impurities from gases) · pl absorber (a device that removes impurities from gases)