underscrubn.
1. An undergrown or insignificant person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant
unknownc1390
pawnc1450
semi-cipher?1550
bauble1570
Jack with the feather1581
nobody1583
winterling1585
squash1600
rush candle1628
niflec1635
nullity1657
nonentity1710
featherweight1812
underscrub1822
nyaff1825
small fish1836
no-account1840
little fish1846
peanut1864
commonplacer1874
sparrow-fart1886
Little Willie1901
pipsqueak1905
nebbish1907
pie-biter1911
blob1916
smallie1930
no-count1932
zilch1933
Mickey Mouse1935
muzhik1945
nerd1951
nothingburger1953
nerk1955
non-person1959
no-mark1982
1822 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 11 362* The less you have to do with the Cockney underscrubs the better.
2. Undergrowth; brushwood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > wood or assemblage of trees or shrubs > [noun] > brushwood, scrub, or underwood
ronea1300
underwooda1325
rammel1338
brushetc1380
scroga1400
bushailec1400
frithing1429
brushal1430
brushc1440
ronec1440
thevec1440
garsil1483
shroga1500
cablish1594
south-bois1598
undergrowth1600
frith1605
hand timber1664
subbois1664
urith1671
brushwood1732
bush-wood1771
underbrush1775
slop1784
woodiness1796
scrub1805
shag1836
chaparral1845
underbush1849
underscrub1870
sand-brush1871
buck-brush1874
bush1879
horizontal scrub1888
tangle-wood1894
shin-tangle1905
1870 S. F. Prentice Tale of N.Z. (MS.) 56 To force a passage through lighter underscrub.
1891 R. Wallace Rural Econ. Austral. & N.Z. xv. 231 In the case of bush country the trees require to be ‘fallen’, and the under-scrub cut.
1894 J. Geikie Great Ice Age (ed. 3) 455 The underscrub being composed chiefly of hazels and occasional birches.
1895 Daily News 21 May 6/3 They had been unable to commence cultivation until a clearance had been made of the underscrub.
Derivatives
ˈunderˌscrubbery n. a collection of underscrubs.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > collectively
no great things1776
underscrubbery1851
1851 G. W. Curtis Nile Notes xxv. 116 I saw the Commander assisting the confused crowd of under-scrubbery out of the boat, with his kurbash or whip.
ˈunderscrubbing n. New Zealand the cutting down of underscrub.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > reclamation > [noun] > clearing land
ridding1347
grubbingc1440
stubbing1445
stockingc1460
assart1534
clotting1601
extirpation1607
shrubbing1611
moling1617
averruncation1656
twitching1799
underbrushing1838
clearance1851
screefing1919
reslashing1934
underscrubbing1935
swidden1955
1935 N. R. McKenzie Gael fares Forth vi. 79 To the younger boys was assigned the task of ‘under-scrubbing’ or cutting the small trees, shrubs, vines..and other plants which grow so luxuriantly on the forest floor.
1948 D. L. G. Mundy There's Gold in Hills ix. 83 The under~scrubbing in New Zealand would be done for about 4s. to 5s.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.1822