Word.ws English Dictionary

rub-ups

rub-ups is the plural of rub-up.

Meaning of rub-up

Noun

rub-up (plural rub-ups)

  1. The action of rubbing, for example polishing or massaging.
    • […] Ben laid them [the knives and forks] side by side, counted them, and finding the number agree with his guests, said, “They’ll dow capital when they’ve had a bit of a rub up.”1841, Thomas Miller, chapter 26, in Gideon Giles, the Roper, London: J. Hayward, page 212
  2. The act of bringing old information to the front of one's memory.
    Synonyms:
    review, revision
  3. (Caribbean) A party, especially one that is spontaneous and involves music and dancing.
  4. (obsolete) An encounter (with someone).
    • Altogether, it has been a most enjoyable trip to me. As much or as little company as I chose, and a rub up against a number of old acquaintances of all sorts.1889, Stevenson Arthur Blackwood, letter to his wife, cited in Some Records of the Life of Stevenson Arthur Blackwood, K.C.B., London: Hodder and Stoughton, p. 453
  5. (obsolete, slang) The act of masturbating.
    • to do a rub-up

Questions about rub-ups

What is rub-ups the plural of?
Rub-ups is the plural of rub-up.

Words near rub-ups in the dictionary

  1. rub-off
  2. rub-offs
  3. rub-out
  4. rub-outs
  5. rub-up
  6. rub-ups
  7. ruba'i
  8. ruba'is
  9. ruba'iyat
  10. rubab
  11. rubaboo

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rub-ups (page history and authors); rub-up (page history and authors). 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.

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Cite this entry: “rub-ups.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rub-ups. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.