rubbering

English

Etymology

rubber +‎ -ing

Verb

rubbering

1. present participle and gerund of rubber
   • 1951, J. D. Salinger, chapter 17, in The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC:

     Old Sally didn't talk much, except to rave about the Lunts, because she was busy rubbering and being charming.

Noun

rubbering (uncountable)

1. rubbernecking
2. eavesdropping on a telephone conversation
   • 2003, Kline, R. Resisting Consumer Technology in Rural America: The Telephone and Electrification. In N. Oudshoorn & T. Pinch (Eds.), How Users Matter: The Co-Construction of Users and Technology (pp. 51–66). MIT Press., p. 54

     In 1907, a North Dakota newspaper described the party-line culture of eavesdropping, or rubbering as it was also called at the time, as follows: Usually when a country subscriber rings anyone up several of his neighbors immediately butt in—not to talk—just listen...

Anagrams

• rerubbing