Word.ws English Dictionary

rub up against

rub up against verb: to touch something with one's body.

Verb

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

  1. To touch something with one's body.
    • She accidentally rubbed up against the painted door and got green paint on her blouse.
  2. To touch another person with one's body in a sexually stimulating manner.
    • Now men, I have rubbed up against a few men in my time, but women?1994, Samuel Becket, Molloy, page 75
  3. To touch a person's body in a friendly manner, seeking attention. (of animals)
    • Tibbles the cat rubbed up against my leg, asking for a piece of my cheese.
  4. To come into conflict with someone or something.

Forms of rub up against

third-person singular presentrubs up against
present participlerubbing up against
past participlerubbed up against
pastrubbed up against

Questions about rub up against

What does rub up against mean?
Rub up against means to touch something with one's body.
What part of speech is rub up against?
Rub up against is a verb.
What is the past tense of rub up against?
The past tense of rub up against is rubbed up against.

Words near rub up against in the dictionary

  1. rub someone up the wrong way
  2. rub someone's face in
  3. rub someone's nose in
  4. rub the fear of God into
  5. rub up
  6. rub up against
  7. rub up on
  8. rub up the wrong way
  9. rub ups
  10. rub-a-dub
  11. rub-a-dubs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rub up against (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rub up against.wav.

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