rub
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: government
military
naval
navy
politics
war
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English rubben, of unknown origin; 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”).
More at reave.
Compare typologically Latin fricō < friō < Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (whence also Russian брить (britʹ, “to shave”)).
Inflected forms:
form: rubs
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: rubs
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: rubbing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: rubbed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: rubbed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: An act of rubbing.
pos: noun
examples: Give that lamp a good rub and see if any genies come out.
gloss: A difficulty or problem.
pos: noun
examples: 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
[…] 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.
'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. […]'
gloss: A quip or sarcastic remark.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
gloss: In the game of crown green bowls, any obstacle by which a bowl is diverted from its normal course.
pos: noun
gloss: Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing.
pos: noun
examples: a heat rub intended for muscular strains
gloss: Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing.
pos: noun
gloss: A loan.
pos: noun
tags: UK
slang
gloss: To move (one object) while maintaining contact with another object over some area, with pressure and friction.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: I rubbed the cloth over the glass.
The cat rubbed itself against my leg.
I rubbed my hands together for warmth.
I couldn't rub the stain from the tablecloth.
You ſhould rub your Teeth and whole Mouth and Gums, the Pallate and Tongue, with a clean courſe cloth, rubbing off the ſlime which groweth upon them in the night.
[…] Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.
gloss: To be rubbed against something.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: My shoes are beginning to rub.
gloss: To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing
The smoothed plank, […] / New rubbed with balm.
gloss: To move or pass with difficulty.
pos: verb
tags: dated
examples: to rub through woods, as huntsmen
gloss: To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over.
pos: verb
examples: to rub up silver
The whole business of our redemption is, in short, only to rub over the defaced copy of the creation
gloss: To hinder; to cross; to thwart.
pos: verb
examples: 'Tis the duke's pleasure, / Whose disposition, all the world well knows, / Will not be rubbed nor stopped.
gloss: To touch the jack with the bowl.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
Synonyms: rub
Related words: act sexually
make clean
sexually stimulate
Derived words: backrub
chest rub
chub rub
Dutch rub
footrub
hand rub
heat rub
Martindale rub test
Princeton rub
rub and tug
rub board
rub-board
rub-boardist
rub iron
rub-off
rub of the green
rubproof
rubstone
rub-up
therein lies the rub
rerub
rub along
rub away
rubbable
rubber
rubbing
rubboard
rub down
rub elbows
rub in
rub it in
rub off
rub off on
rub one off
rub one out
rub oneself off
rub one's face with a brass candlestick
rub one's hands
rub one's hands together
rub out
rub salt in someone's wounds
rub salt in the wound
rub shoulders
rub someone's face in
rub someone's nose in
rub someone the right way
rub someone the wrong way
rub the fear of God into
rub up
rub up against
rub up on
rub up the wrong way
two brain cells to rub together
two pennies to rub together
Translations:
lang: Russian
word: растира́ние
roman: rastiránije
lang: Russian
word: расти́рка
roman: rastírka