rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryshrubWoody plant
noun

shrub

SHRUB/ʃrʌb/

A low woody plant with several stems.

The shrub has several woody stems near the ground.

A compact leafy shrub with several clearly woody stems branching from ground level, beside a much taller single-trunk tree for a simple size and growth-form comparison.
Etymology
shrubOld Englishbrushwood, shrubbery

Old English scrybb referred to brushwood or shrubbery collectively. The modern sense names an individual woody plant of that low-growing, bushy kind rather than the vegetation as a whole.

In context

Patrick Kelly0:45
Belladonna itself is a small shrub that grows from about 1 and a half to 2 meters tall. It has beautiful purple, bell shaped flowers, and a dark purple berry about the size of a blueberry.
How This Poisonous Plant Became Medicine (Belladonna) | Patrick Kelly

More examples

  • She planted a flowering shrub beside the gate.
  • The low shrub spread across the bed.
  • A row of shrubs screened the path.

Forms

shrub · shrubs

Similar words

bush
Bush is the everyday near-equivalent; shrub is the more botanical term.
tree
A tree typically has a taller main trunk; a shrub commonly has several stems near ground level.