rub

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See also: RUB

English

Etymology

From Middle English rubben. 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”), (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Icelandic and (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Norwegian rubba (“to scrape”).

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL. IPA(key): /ɹʌb/, [ɹɐb], enPR: rŭb
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  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌb

Noun

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.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

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. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      “[…] 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.
    I rubbed the cloth over the glass.
    The cat rubbed itself against my leg.
    I rubbed my hands together for warmth.
  2. (transitive) To rub something against (a second thing).
    I rubbed the glass with the cloth.
    • (Can we date this quote by T. Elyot and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      It shall be expedient, after that body is cleaned, to rub the body with a coarse linen cloth.
  3. (intransitive) To be rubbed against something.
    My shoes are beginning to rub.
  4. (transitive) To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.
    meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing
    • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      The smoothed plank, […] / New rubbed with balm.
  5. (dated) To move or pass with difficulty.
    to rub through woods, as huntsmen
  6. To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over.
    to rub up silver
    • (Can we date this quote by South and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      The whole business of our redemption is to rub over the defaced copy of the creation.
  7. To hinder; to cross; to thwart.

Derived terms

Terms derived from rub (verb)

Template:rel-mid3

Template:rel-mid3

Translations

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

Further reading

Anagrams

Czech

Rub of a credit card

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

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  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

Template:cs-decl-noun

Antonyms

Derived terms

See also

References

  1. ^ Template:R:Rejzek 2007

Further reading

Lower Sorbian

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Verb

rub

  1. second-person singular imperative of rubaś

Manx

Etymology

Borrowed from English rub.

Noun

rub m (genitive singular rub, plural rubbyn)

  1. rub

Verb

rub (verbal noun rubbey or rubbal)

  1. to rub

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *rǫbъ.

Pronunciation

Noun

rȗb m (Cyrillic spelling ру̑б)

  1. rim
  2. edge, brink

Declension

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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