rub
UK/ɹʌb/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Ireland/ɹʊb/
rub noun: an act of rubbing.
Noun (1)
rub (plural rubs)
- An act of rubbing.
- Give that lamp a good rub and see if any genies come out.
- 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 pausec. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- […] 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.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[[Episode 16]]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC
- A quip or sarcastic remark.
- In the game of crown green bowls, any obstacle by which a bowl is diverted from its normal course.
- Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing.
- a heat rub intended for muscular strains
- A mixture of spices applied to meat before it is barbecued.
- A loan.
Verb
rub (third-person singular simple present rubs, present participle rubbing, simple past and past participle rubbed)
- 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.
- To be rubbed against something.
- My shoes are beginning to rub.
- To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.
- meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing
- The smoothed plank, […] / New rubbed with balm.1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- To move or pass with difficulty.
- to rub through woods, as huntsmen
- To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over.
- to rub up silver
- The whole business of our redemption is, in short, only to rub over the defaced copy of the creationa. 1716, Robert South, Man Created in God's Image
- To hinder; to cross; to thwart.
- 'Tis the duke's pleasure, / Whose disposition, all the world well knows, / Will not be rubbed nor stopped.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- To touch the jack with the bowl.
Noun (2) capitalized: RUB
RUB (plural RUBs)
rub meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
rub in Hindi
- to move one object while maintaining contact with another object over some area
- रगड़ना ragaṛnā
rub in Tamil
- தேய்த்துக் கொள்ள
rub in Urdu
- to move one object while maintaining contact with another object over some area
- رگڑنا ragaṛnā
rub in Bengali
- to move one object while maintaining contact with another object over some area
- ঘষা ghośa
More languagesFewer languages
- rub in Telugu
- రుద్దడానికి
- rub in Malayalam
- റബ്ബ് ചെയ്യുക
- rub in Kannada
- ರಬ್ ಮಾಡಲು, ಉಜ್ಜಲು
- rub in Punjabi
- ਰਗਡ਼ਾਓ, ਰਗਡ਼ੋ, ਰਗਡ਼ਨ ਲਈ
- rub in Gujarati
- ઘસવું, ઘસો, ઘસવા માટે
- rub in Odia
- ଘଷନ୍ତୁ, ଘଷିଦିଅନ୍ତୁ, ଘଷିବାକୁ
- rub in Sanskrit
- घर्षति gharṣati
- rub in Assamese
- ঘঁহা ghõha, মজা moza, মাজা maza, সানা xana
- rub in Arabic
- حَكَّ ḥakka, فَرَكَ faraka
- rub in Indonesian
- gosok
- rub in Persian
- مالیدن mâlidan
- rub in Thai
- ขัด kàt, ถู tǔu, สี sǐi
- rub in Vietnamese
- thoa, xoa, cọ xát
- rub in Myanmar
- ပွတ် pwat
Examples of rub in a sentence
- 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.1680, T. K., The Kitchin-Phyſician; Or, a Guide for Good-Housewives in Maintaining Their Families in Health. […] , How to cleanſe the...
- […] Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
Synonyms of rub
Forms of rub
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | rubs |
| plural | RUBs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | rubs |
| present participle | rubbing |
| past participle | rubbed |
| past | rubbed |
Origin of rub
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”)).
Words formed from rub
- backrub, back rub
- 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
- there's 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 someone up 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
Phrases with rub
Words that rhyme with rub
Questions about rub
- What does rub mean?
- Rub means an act of rubbing.
- What is rub in Hindi?
- Rub in Hindi is रगड़ना (ragaṛnā). See Rub meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use rub in a sentence?
- I rubbed my hands together for warmth.
- What part of speech is rub?
- Rub can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce rub?
- Rub is pronounced /ɹʌb/ (UK).
- What is the plural of rub?
- The plural of rub is rubs.
Words near rub in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rub (page history and authors); RUB (page history and authors); rub (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rub (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rub (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rub (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rub (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rub (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rub (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-rub.ogg.
Cite this entry: “rub.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rub. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.