Meaning & use
shrub
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Meanings
nouncountable
A woody plant that is smaller than a tree and usually has several stems growing from near the ground.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a shrub, two shrubs, or shrubs in general.
Patterns
- plant a shrub
- a flowering shrub
- trim/prune a shrub
We planted a small flowering shrub beside the front gate.
The garden is full of low shrubs that need very little water.
He spent the morning trimming the shrubs along the driveway.
nouncountable or uncountableold-fashioned
A drink made from fruit juice, sugar, and often vinegar, served chilled.
Grammar: Mostly uncountable when talking about the drink in general, but countable for a glass or a type: a shrub, two shrubs.
Patterns
- a raspberry shrub
- serve shrub chilled
In the past, a fruit shrub was a popular way to preserve berries.
They served a refreshing shrub made with vinegar and raspberries.
Word forms
| plural | shrubs |
|---|
Common combinations
- flowering shrub
- The flowering shrub turns bright pink in late spring.
- evergreen shrub
- An evergreen shrub keeps its leaves all year round.
- plant a shrub
- You should plant the shrub in a sunny spot.
- prune a shrub
- Prune the shrub after it has finished flowering.
- a low shrub
- A low shrub can hide the base of the fence.
- a dense shrub
- Birds often nest in a dense shrub.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bush
- Bush is the everyday word and can also mean wild land in Africa or Australia; shrub is the more precise gardening and scientific term.
- hedge
- A hedge is a row of shrubs planted close together to form a boundary, not a single plant.
Opposites
Word family
- shrubbery noun
- A group or area of shrubs, often in a garden.
- shrubby adjective
- Growing like a shrub or covered with shrubs.
Commonly confused: shrub or scrub? shrub or shrug?
shrub vs scrub
Scrub means low, stunted trees and bushes, or the act of cleaning something hard; it sounds similar but is a different word.
shrub vs shrug
Shrug means to raise your shoulders to show you do not know or care; it is a verb, not a plant.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'shrub' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A shrub is a woody plant smaller than a tree, so a bird nesting in one makes sense. Option 2 confuses shrub with shrug, option 3 uses shrub as a verb (the word is scrub), and option 4 wrongly calls a tall tree a shrub.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shrub”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.