Word.ws English Dictionary

rub off

rub off verb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rub, off.

Verb

rub off (third-person singular simple present rubs off, present participle rubbing off, simple past and past participle rubbed off)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rub, off.
  2. To clean by rubbing.
    • He was wet through with the dew and quite earthy from diving into the burrows the Boy had made for him in the flower bed, and Nana grumbled as she rubbed him off with a corner of her apron.1921 June, Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real”, in Harper’s Bazar, volume LVI, number 6 (2504 overall), New York, N.Y.: International Magazine Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
  3. (idiomatic, intransitive) To be transferred with little or no effort.
    • I hoped that, if I hung out with the popular kids, some of their charisma might rub off on me.
    • Over time, I noticed various exercises I did with Woebot rubbing off in my daily life. Woebot taught me how to set SMART goals — specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-limited.2022 September 27, Barclay Bram, “My Therapist, the Robot”, in The New York Times

rub off meaning in Malayalam, Kannada and Punjabi

rub off in Malayalam

on be passed on to, be transferred to, be transmitted to
കെെമാറ്റം ചെയ്യപ്പെടുക, ഏല്പിക്കപ്പെടുക, അയച്ചുകൊടുക്കപ്പെടുക, കെെമറിയുക, പ്രേഷണം ചെയ്യപ്പെടുക, പ്രക്ഷേപണം ചെയ്യപ്പെടുക

rub off in Kannada

ಒರಸು, ಕೀರು, ತೊಡೆ, ಸಿಂದು, ತಿಮಿರ್, ತಿಮಿರು

rub off in Punjabi

to rub off, wear off, abrade through use or friction; to be rubbed
ਘਸਣਾ ghasṇā

Forms of rub off

third-person singular presentrubs off
present participlerubbing off
past participlerubbed off
pastrubbed off

Words formed from rub off

Questions about rub off

What does rub off mean?
Rub off means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rub, off.
What is rub off in Malayalam?
Rub off in Malayalam is കെെമാറ്റം ചെയ്യപ്പെടുക, ഏല്പിക്കപ്പെടുക, അയച്ചുകൊടുക്കപ്പെടുക. See Rub off meaning in Malayalam.
What part of speech is rub off?
Rub off is a verb.
What is the past tense of rub off?
The past tense of rub off is rubbed off.

Words near rub off in the dictionary

  1. rub in
  2. rub iron
  3. rub irons
  4. rub it in
  5. rub of the green
  6. rub off
  7. rub off on
  8. rub one off
  9. rub one out
  10. rub one's face with a brass candlestick
  11. rub one's hands

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rub off (page history and authors); rub off (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); rub off (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਘਸਣਾ (Punjabi) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-rub off.ogg.

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