Rub
Rub , transitive verb
[Probably of Celtic origin; compare Welsh rhwbiaw, gael. rub.]
1.
To subject (a body) to the action of something moving over its surface with pressure and friction, especially to the action of something moving back and forth; as, to rub the flesh with the hand; to rub wood with sandpaper.
It shall be expedient, after that body is cleaned, to rub the body with a coarse linen cloth.
2.
To move over the surface of (a body) with pressure and friction; to graze; to chafe; as, the boat rubs the ground.
3.
To cause (a body) to move with pressure and friction along a surface; as, to rub the hand over the body.
Two bones rubbed hard against one another.
4.
To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.
The smoothed plank,...
New rubbed with balm.
5.
To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; -- often with up or over; as, to rub up silver.
The whole business of our redemption is to rub over the defaced copy of the creation.
6.
To hinder; to cross; to thwart. [Rare]
'T is the duke's pleasure,
Whose disposition, all the world well knows,
Will not be rubbed nor stopped.
Collocations (4)
To rub down , (a) To clean by rubbing; to comb or curry; as, to down a horse (b) To reduce or remove by rubbing; as, to rub down the rough points.
To rub off , to clean anything by rubbing; to separate by friction; as, to rub off rust.
To rub out , to remove or separate by friction; to erase; to obliterate; as, to rub out a mark or letter; to rub out a stain.
To rub up , (a) To burnish; to polish; to clean (b) To excite; to awaken; to rouse to action; as, to rub up the memory.
Rub , intransitive verb
1.
To move along the surface of a body with pressure; to grate; as, a wheel rubs against the gatepost.
2.
To fret; to chafe; as, to rub upon a sore.
3.
To move or pass with difficulty; as, to rub through woods, as huntsmen; to rub through the world.
Collocations (1)
To rub along or on , to go on with difficulty; as, they manage, with strict economy, to rub along. [Colloquial]
Rub , noun
[Compare Welsh rhwb. See Rub, v,t,]
1.
The act of rubbing; friction.
2.
That which rubs; that which tends to hinder or obstruct motion or progress; hindrance; obstruction, an impediment; especially, a difficulty or obstruction hard to overcome; a pinch.
Every rub is smoothed on our way.
To sleep, perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub.
Upon this rub, the English ambassadors thought fit to demur.
One knows not, certainly, what other rubs might have been ordained for us by a wise Providence.
3.
Inequality of surface, as of the ground in the game of bowls; unevenness. — Shakespeare
4.
Something grating to the feelings; sarcasm; joke; as, a hard rub.
5.
Imperfection; failing; fault. [Obsolete] — Beau. & Fl
6.
A chance. [Obsolete]
Flight shall leave no Greek a rub.
7.
A stone, commonly flat, used to sharpen cutting tools; a whetstone; -- called also rubstone.
Collocations (2)
Rub iron , an iron guard on a wagon body, against which a wheel rubs when cramped too much.
Rub of the green (Golf) , anything happening to a ball in motion, such as its being deflected or stopped by any agency outside the match, or by the fore caddie.