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Rub

//ɹʌb// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An act of rubbing.

    "Give that lamp a good rub and see if any genies come out."

  2. 2
    Any of a group of proteins similar to ubiquitin
  3. 3
    the act of rubbing or wiping wordnet
  4. 4
    A difficulty or problem.

    "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"

  5. 5
    Initialism of rich urban biker. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    an unforeseen obstacle wordnet
  2. 7
    A quip or sarcastic remark. archaic
  3. 8
    In the game of crown green bowls, any obstacle by which a bowl is diverted from its normal course.
  4. 9
    Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing.

    "a heat rub intended for muscular strains"

  5. 10
    Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing.; A mixture of spices applied to meat before it is barbecued.
  6. 11
    A loan. UK, slang
Verb
  1. 1
    To move (one object) while maintaining contact with another object over some area, with pressure and friction. transitive

    "I rubbed the cloth over the glass."

  2. 2
    move over something with pressure wordnet
  3. 3
    To be rubbed against something. intransitive

    "My shoes are beginning to rub."

  4. 4
    cause friction wordnet
  5. 5
    To spread a substance thinly over; to smear. transitive

    "meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing"

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    scrape or rub as if to relieve itching wordnet
  2. 7
    To move or pass with difficulty. dated

    "to rub through woods, as huntsmen"

  3. 8
    To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over.

    "to rub up silver"

  4. 9
    To hinder; to cross; to thwart.

    "'Tis the duke's pleasure, / Whose disposition, all the world well knows, / Will not be rubbed nor stopped."

  5. 10
    To touch the jack with the bowl. transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

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”)).

Etymology 2

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”)).

See also for "rub"

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