shrub

plural shrubs

1. A woody plant smaller than a tree, and usually with several stems from the same base.

   Tara flour is one of two products made from the seed pods of a thorny shrub native to Peru. One of those, tara gum, has been used safely for years as a thickening agent or stabilizer in human foods.

   2024 October 3, Sandee LaMotte, “‘I’ve never experienced pain like that’: Consumers pay the price for untested food ingredients”, in CNN

   1 more example

   No trees have grown on the windswept Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean for tens of thousands of years — just shrubs and other low-lying vegetation. That’s why a recent arboreal discovery nearly 20 feet (6 meters) beneath the ground caught researchers’ attention.

   2024 September 27, Katie Hunt, “Scientists discover hidden ancient forest on treeless island”, in CNN

   Synonyms: bush

present singular third person shrubs · participle present shrubbing · participle past shrubbed · past shrubbed

1. obsoleteTo lop; to prune.

   The Papistes[…]though they be woll shrubbed, and shred, yet they begin euen nowe before the springe, to budde.

   1573, Anthony Anderson, An Exposition of the Hymne commonly called Benedictus

2. rareTo plant a shrub in a yard, garden, etc.; to prune a bush or other plant into a shrub.

plural shrubs

1. countableuncountableA liquor composed of vegetable acid, fruit juice (especially lemon), sugar, sometimes vinegar, and a small amount of spirit as a preservative. Modern shrub is usually non-alcoholic, but in earlier times it was often mixed with a substantial amount of spirit such as brandy or rum, thus making it a liqueur.

present singular third person shrubs · participle present shrubbing · participle past shrubbed · past shrubbed

1. rareTo make or drink a shrub (liquor drink).

present singular third person shrubs · participle present shrubbing · participle past shrubbed · past shrubbed

1. KenyaambitransitiveslangTo mispronounce (a word or words) in another language in a manner that is influenced by one's mother tongue.

   It is still considered embarrassing if people in authority like teachers or newscasters “shrub.”

   2019 April 19, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, “Harro! I shrub because, really, I have no otherwise, do I?”, in The East African, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2023

   2 more examples

   The people who benefit from making fun of shrubbing, therefore, are Kenyans who do not speak indigenous languages, because they are less likely to shrub than Kenyans who learned English as a second language in school and may have a heavier accent.

   2010, Norma Mendoza-Denton, Dana Osborne, quoting Heidi Orcutt-Gachiri, “Two Languages, Two Identities?”, in Carmen Llamas, Dominic Watt, editors, Shrubbing and the evaluation of expertise in Kenyan English and Kiswahili: placing Kenyan indigenous languages at risk, 2008, page 7, quoted in Language and Identities, →ISBN, page 121

   However, Mwandani and her brother had noted that their mother had shrubbed and pointed it out right away.

   2014, Michael Gathonjia Wairungu, “The notion of shrubbing vs. Mother tongue interference: a question of generation”, in "A Language of Many Hats": The Rise of Sheng and other Linguistic Styles among Urban Youth in Kenya, page 310

plural shrubs

1. KenyaslangA word mispronounced by replacing some consonant sounds with others of a similar place of articulation as influenced by one's mother tongue.

   It is not only in face-to-face contexts that Kenyans police shrubbing; there are newspaper columns inviting readers to send in shrubs that they have witnessed, […]

   2010, Norma Mendoza-Denton, Dana Osborne, “Two Languages, Two Identities?”, in Carmen Llamas, Dominic Watt, editors, Language and Identities, →ISBN, page 121

   1 more example

   One of the first people to go on air on X Fm, Raabia (It’s not a kuyu [Kikuyu] shrub for labia) is about to exit the station, she’s being replaced by Mao (their lispy producer) […]

   2011 September 23, Yeye, “Fuck it!”, in Media Madness, archived from the original on 24 Sep 2011

1. USderogatorygovernmentGeorge W. Bush (born 1946), the 43rd president of the United States (2001–2009).

   For the past five days, mostly in New York and SC, the Shrub has apparently been running ads that characterize McCain’s policy proposals in what Murphy terms a “willfully distorting” way.

   2000 April 13, David Foster Wallace, “David Foster Wallace on John McCain: ‘The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys and the Shrub’”, in Rolling Stone

   4 more examples

   Ann Richards [...] is running for reelection as Governor of Texas against George W. Bush, a Republican and the eldest son of the former President. […] She derides him as “all hat and no cattle.” […] Her followers hand out bumper stickers saying: “Don't elect the son-of-a-Bush.” They call him “Shrub.”

   1994 October 20, Ian Brodie, “Lone Star governor struggles to uproot the Shrub”, in The Times, London, page 15

   If this tax-cut were proposed in exactly opposite proportions, conservatives would be screaming about communist re-distribution of wealth and having aneurysms right and left. It’s much better when the rich take from the poor. After all, the American rich are oppressed and deserve this windfall. Shrub said so. It must be true.

   2001 April 4, David Hollingsworth, “Readers’ views: Tax cut helps only rich”, in Lexington Herald-Leader, volume 19, number 91, Lexington, Ky., page A10

   It seems that a recent letter opines that President Shrub deserves our loyalty simply because we can’t possibly know his decision making “unless we were to step into the role as president.” […] As to our inability to understand his choices, Shrub has a record in Texas.

   2001 May 7, Dick Goodemoot, “Letters: President Bush deserves disrespect”, in Corvallis Gazette-Times, volume 139, number 127, Corvallis, Ore., page A11

   Less than 24 hours after the idiot Shrub gives that disasterous inaugural speech of his, the Shrub's daddy goes to the media to apologize to the world for his son's crazy talk. Shrub's daddy is now going around trying to reassure other countries that his son didn't really mean what he said and that he is not really going to invade them after all.

   2005 January 24, AbelM...@webtv.net, “Shrub is a Certifiable Loon & The Whole World Knows This.”, in alt.politics (Usenet)