briar vs scrub

briar

noun
  • A pipe for smoking, made from the roots of that shrub. 

  • The white heath (Erica arborea), a thorny Mediterranean shrub. 

  • Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera. 

  • Anything sharp or unpleasant to the feelings. 

scrub

noun
  • A thicket or jungle, often specified by the name of the prevailing plant 

  • One of the common livestock of a region of no particular breed or not of pure breed, especially when inferior in size, etc. Often used to refer to male animals unsuited for breeding. 

  • One not on the first team of players; a substitute. 

  • An instance of scrubbing. 

  • Any medical uniform consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and pants (trousers). 

  • One who scrubs. 

  • One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. 

  • A cancellation. 

  • A worn-out brush. 

  • One who is incompetent or unable to complete easy tasks. 

  • An exfoliant for the body. 

  • Clothing worn while performing surgery. 

  • Vegetation of inferior quality, though sometimes thick and impenetrable, growing in poor soil or in sand; also, brush. 

adj
  • Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby. 

verb
  • To rub anything hard, especially with a wet brush; to scour 

  • To eliminate or to correct data from a set of records to bring it inline with other similar datasets 

  • To maneuver the play position on a media editing system by using a scroll bar or touch-based interface. 

  • To move a recording tape back and forth with a scrubbing motion to produce a scratching sound, or to do so by a similar use of a control on an editing system. 

  • To rub hard; to wash with rubbing; usually, to rub with a wet brush, or with something coarse or rough, for the purpose of cleaning or brightening 

  • To be diligent and penurious 

  • To call off a scheduled event; to cancel. 

How often have the words briar and scrub occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )