rub

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See also: RUB

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Middle English rubben; possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną, related to *reufaną (“to tear”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian rubje (“to rub, scrape”), German Low German rubben (“to rub”), Low German rubblig (“rough, uneven”), Dutch robben, rubben (“to rub smooth; scrape; scrub”), Danish rubbe (“to rub, scrub”), Icelandic and Norwegian rubba (“to scrape”).[1] More at reave.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɹʌb/, [ɹɐb], enPR: rŭb
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɹʌb/, enPR: rŭb
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌb

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.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
      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 February, James Joyce, “[[Episode 16]]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
      […] 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.
    • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
      'My dear Devereux, I say, you mustn't talk in that wild way. You—you talk like a ruined man!'
      'And I so comfortable!'
      'Why, to be sure, Dick, you have had some little rubs, and, maybe, your follies and your vexations; but, hang it, you are young; you can't get experience—at least, so I've found it—without paying for it. […] '
  3. (archaic) A quip or sarcastic remark.
  4. In the game of crown green bowls, any obstacle by which a bowl is diverted from its normal course.
  5. Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing.
    a heat rub intended for muscular strains
    1. A mixture of spices applied to meat before it is barbecued.
  6. (UK, naval slang) A loan.

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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

  1. (transitive) To move (one object) while maintaining contact with another object over some area, with pressure and friction.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      “ […] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.
    • 1536 (originally published, the quote if from a later edited version of unknown date), Thomas Elyot, The Castel of Helth
      It shall be expedient, after that body is cleaned, to rub the body with a coarse linen cloth.
    I rubbed the cloth over the glass.
    The cat rubbed itself against my leg.
    I rubbed my hands together for warmth.
  2. (intransitive) To be rubbed against something.
    My shoes are beginning to rub.
  3. (transitive) To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.
    meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing
  4. (dated) To move or pass with difficulty.
    to rub through woods, as huntsmen
  5. To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over.
    to rub up silver
    • a. 1716, Robert South, Man Created in God's Image
      The whole business of our redemption is, in short, only to rub over the defaced copy of the creation
  6. To hinder; to cross; to thwart.
  7. (transitive, bowls) To touch the jack with the bowl.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from rub (verb)

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 2520

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Czech[edit]

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs
Rub of a credit card

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

rub m inan

  1. back (the reverse side)
    Antonym: líc
    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 (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative rub ruby
genitive rubu rubů
dative rubu rubům
accusative rub ruby
vocative rube ruby
locative rubu rubech
instrumental rubem ruby

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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

Further reading[edit]

  • rub in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • rub in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
  • rub in Internetová jazyková příručka

Lower Sorbian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

rub

  1. second-person singular imperative of rubaś

Manx[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English rub.

Noun[edit]

rub m (genitive singular 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]

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

Yola[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English ribbe, from Old English ribb, from Proto-West Germanic *ribi.

Noun[edit]

rub (plural rubbès)

  1. rib

References[edit]

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 65
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