rub

English

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹʌb/, , enPR: rŭb
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹʌb/, enPR: rŭb

• 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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     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, “[]”, 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

• (a difficulty or problem): hitch, hiccup, catch, kink, glitch, snag

Derived terms

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.

   I rubbed the cloth over the glass.

   The cat rubbed itself against my leg.

   I rubbed my hands together for warmth.

   • 1680, T. K., The Kitchin-Phyſician; Or, a Guide for Good-Housewives in Maintaining Their Families in Health. ‎, How to cleanſe the Teeth, and keep them ſound, page 44:

     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.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     […] Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.

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

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:

     The smoothed plank, […] / New rubbed with balm.

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.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

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

7. (transitive, bowls) To touch the jack with the bowl.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• “rub”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “rub”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “rub”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “rub”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• bru, bur, bur-

Czech

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:

rub

Wikipedia ^cs

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -up
• Homophone: rup

Noun

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

Derived terms

See also

• vzhůru nohama
• rubat

References

Further reading

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

Lower Sorbian

Alternative forms

• rubaj

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

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

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *rǫbъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rûːb/

Noun

rȗb m (Cyrillic spelling ру̑б)

1. rim
2. edge, brink

Declension

Yola

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾʊb/

Noun

rub (plural rubbès)

1. rib

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) 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, published 1867, page 65