Word.ws English Dictionary

scrub up

scrub up verb: to clean or wash by scrubbing.

Verb

scrub up (third-person singular simple present scrubs up, present participle scrubbing up, simple past and past participle scrubbed up)

  1. To clean or wash by scrubbing.
    • I got the counter scrubbed up before moving on to the floors.
    Synonyms:
    scrub, scrub down
    1. Synonym of scrub in (To thoroughly wash one's hands and forearms in preparation for performing a surgery.)
      • It's time to start scrubbing up for my next surgery.
  2. (UK, informal) To become clean, handsome, smart in appearance, such as for a special occasion, especially when it is out of character to be seen as such.
    • He scrubs up well.
    • Be sure to scrub up before your interview.

Synonyms of scrub up

All synonyms of scrub up

Forms of scrub up

third-person singular presentscrubs up
present participlescrubbing up
past participlescrubbed up
pastscrubbed up

Questions about scrub up

What does scrub up mean?
Scrub up means to clean or wash by scrubbing.
What part of speech is scrub up?
Scrub up is a verb.
What is the past tense of scrub up?
The past tense of scrub up is scrubbed up.

Words near scrub up in the dictionary

  1. scrub the ground
  2. scrub turkey
  3. scrub turkeys
  4. scrub turpentine
  5. scrub typhus
  6. scrub up
  7. scrub wallabies
  8. scrub wallaby
  9. scrub wren
  10. scrub wrens
  11. scrubbability

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scrub up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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