bescrub

English

Etymology

From be- (“about, completely, all over”) +‎ scrub.

Verb

bescrub (third-person singular simple present bescrubs, present participle bescrubbing, simple past and past participle bescrubbed)

1. (transitive) To scrub around or about; scrub completely or all over.
   • 1812, Edward Michael Ward, Oxoniana:

     To Renegados foul, who thus distort "Whate'er is lovely and of good report, Dashing loud libels at a College head, Filling the Cranium with suspicious dread, That whole of merits, Learning's highest claims, Soar not above the Groom's bescrubbing aims.

   • 1918, Mary Aldis, Drift - Page 287:

     During the intermission an engaging nursery infant, bescrubbed and becurled, clad in "rompers" and wearing a wondering expression, had been steered gently about among the audience, holding out a porringer, into which contributions were liberally poured.

   • 1921, Libraries: A Monthly Review of Library Matters and Methods:

     With bon ami, With Old Dutch Cleanser and with Naphtha soap, Bescrub my all so noble lineaments, That e'en a freshman can not look and say, "Why, there's Ty Cobb!"