Scrubs

How to spell scrubs

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce scrubs

What does scrubs mean?

1. nounThe loose, plain garments worn by surgeons, nurses, and other clinical staff.
2. verbRubs something hard with a brush or rough material to clean it.

Scrubs in a sentence

• noun

  The nurse changed into fresh scrubs before the morning shift.

• verb

  She scrubs the kitchen floor every weekend with a stiff brush.

• noun

  Hospital scrubs are usually a pale blue or green colour.

• verb

  The cleaner scrubs the stained tiles until they shine.

Where does scrubs come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

The base word 'scrub' arrived in Middle English around the 1300s, most likely from a Middle Dutch or Middle Low German source such as 'schrobben', meaning to rub or scratch a surface clean. It is closely related to the everyday word 'scrape', and both carry the sense of dragging something abrasive across a surface. Over time 'scrub' picked up a second, plant-related meaning for low, stunted bushes, probably influenced by a variant of 'shrub'. The medical clothing sense is modern and American in origin: surgeons and nurses 'scrub up', washing thoroughly before an operation, and the plain garments they change into for the sterile area became known as 'scrubs' during the twentieth century. The plural form here adds nothing tricky beyond the ordinary -s, so the only real spelling care is the 'scr' cluster and the single 'b'.

How the word is built

• scrub (to rub hard, clean)
• -s (plural noun / third-person verb ending)