scrubber

English

Etymology

From scrub +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹʌbə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹʌbɚ/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹɐbə/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹʊbə/
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹʊbəɹ/
• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈskɹʌbəɹ/
• Rhymes: -ʌbə(ɹ)

Noun

scrubber (plural scrubbers)

1. A person or appliance that cleans floors or similar by scrubbing.
2. A soft and flexible handheld polymer-fiber implement for scrubbing tasks.

   Hyponyms: pot scrubber, scrubby, scrubbie

   Coordinate terms: cloth, dishcloth, rag, scouring pad, sponge

3. A device that removes impurities from gases.
4. (historical) A machine for washing leather after the tanpit.
5. (Commonwealth) An animal (especially cattle) that has broken away from the herd and established itself in the bush.
6. (Australia) Someone who lives in the bush; a wild person, someone only partly assimilated into society.
   • 2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 74:

     ‘He was a real scrubber that old feller,’ he confided gleefully. ‘No one never got a tag on him before this.’

7. (UK, Ireland, slang) A prostitute or a slovenly woman.
   • 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 267:

     What did you think, it was happy ever after with a Woodlands Road scrubber in a seaside resort?

8. (UK, Ireland, slang) A dirty or unhygienic person.
9. (graphical user interface, audio, video) A horizontal bar allowing the user to set the playback position.

Derived terms

• amine scrubber
• back scrubber
• HCl scrubber
• pot scrubber
• pot scrubber brush
• venturi scrubber

 

Translations

a device that removes impurities from gases

• Polish: absorber (pl) m, apartat absorpcyjny m, skruber (pl) m, płuczka (pl) f