rub

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Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Middle English rubben. Cognate with Saterland Frisian rubje (“to rub, scrape”), Low German rubblig (“rough, uneven”), Icelandic and Norwegian rubba (“to scrape”), Danish rubbe (“to rub, scrub”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

rub (plural rubs)

  1. An act of rubbing.
    Give that lamp a good rub and see if any genies come out
  2. A difficulty or problem.
    Therein lies the rub.
    • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark III.i.71-75
      To die, to sleep—/To sleep—perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub!/For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,/When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/Must give us pause
    • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, Episode 16
      ...the propriety of the cabman's shelter, as it was called, hardly a stonesthrow away near Butt bridge where they might hit upon some drinkables in the shape of a milk and soda or a mineral. But how to get there was the rub.
  3. In the game of crown green bowls: any obstacle by which a bowl is diverted from its normal course.
  4. A mixture of spices applied to meat before it is barbecued.

Translations [edit]

Verb [edit]

rub (third-person singular simple present rubs, present participle rubbing, simple past and past participle rubbed)

  1. To move one object while maintaining contact with another object over some area.
    I rubbed the cloth over the glass.
    The cat rubbed itself against my leg.
    I rubbed my hands together for warmth.
  2. To rub something against.
    I rubbed the glass with the cloth.
  3. To rub against something.
    My shoes are beginning to rub.

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from rub (verb)

Translations [edit]

to move one object while maintaining contact with another object over some area
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

External links [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

Czech [edit]

Rub of a credit card

Etymology [edit]

Common Slavic, from Proto-Slavic *rǫbъ (“something which was cut”), from *rǫbati (“to cut, chop”).[1]

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

rub m

  1. back (the reverse side)
    rub karty -- back of the card
    rub mince -- reverse of the coin
  2. the other (often negative) aspect of a situation

Declension [edit]

    declension of rub
singular plural
nominative rub ruby
genitive rubu rubů
dative rubu rubům
accusative rub ruby
vocative rube ruby
locative rubu rubech
instrumental rubem ruby

Antonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ rub in Jiří Rejzek, Český etymologický slovník, Leda, 2007

Lojban [edit]

Rafsi [edit]

rub

  1. rafsi of ruble.

Manx [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From English rub.

Noun [edit]

rub m (genitive rub, plural rubbyn)

  1. rub

Verb [edit]

rub (verbal noun rubbey or rubbal)

  1. to rub

Serbo-Croatian [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Proto-Slavic *rǫbъ.

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /rûːb/

Noun [edit]

rȗb m (Cyrillic spelling ру̑б)

  1. rim
  2. edge, brink

Declension [edit]

    declension of rub
singular plural
nominative rȗb rȕbovi
genitive ruba rubova
dative rubu rubovima
accusative rub rubove
vocative rube rubovi
locative rubu rubovima
instrumental rubom rubovima
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