shrub

1 of 2

noun (1)

ˈshrəb 

 especially Southern  ˈsrəb

: a low usually several-stemmed woody plant

shrub-like adjective

or shrublike

ˈshrəb-ˌlīk 

 especially Southern  ˈsrəb-

shrub-like plants

shrub

2 of 2

noun (2)

1

: an aged blend of fruit juice, sugar, and spirits served chilled and diluted with water

2

: a beverage made by adding acidulated fruit juice to iced water

Examples of shrub in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The vast majority are trees or large shrubs, but Acacia redolens var. —Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 16 Aug. 2025

Tree and shrub samples should be collected to a depth of 8 to 10 inches. —Nora Doonan, Hartford Courant, 16 Aug. 2025

In addition to breaking ground on major projects, San Diego Fire-Rescue media manager Candace Hadley said property owners, contractors and landscapers should also call 811 for seemingly mundane chores such as planting trees or shrubs, digging post holes, installing a fence or even a mailbox. —Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Aug. 2025

Many of its trees and shrubs were grown from seeds brought back from the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem in the early 1950s by University of Miami professor and Coral Gables resident Hazel Westby. —Miami Herald, 9 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English schrobbe, from Old English scrybb brushwood; akin to Norwegian skrubbebær, a cornel of a dwarf species

Noun (2)

Arabic sharāb beverage

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

circa 1706, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for shrub

• bub
• club
• cub
• dub
• grub
• hub
• nub
• pub
• rub
• scrub
• snub
• stub

Kids Definition

shrub

noun

ˈshrəb

: a woody plant that has several stems and is smaller than most trees