Word.ws English Dictionary

rubadub

rubadub noun: the sound of a drum being continuously beaten.

Noun

rubadub (countable and uncountable, plural rubadubs)

  1. The sound of a drum being continuously beaten.
    • There would be a deafening rub-a-dub of drums and blowing of shell-trumpets.1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 9, page 189
  2. (broadly) A clamorous, repeated sound; a clatter.
    • July 17 1850, Daniel Webster, "a speech", documented in Notes and Queries
      the rubadub of the abolition presses
  3. A Jamaican style of dance with suggestive rubbing or grinding motions.
  4. (Cockney, slang) A pub or club.
    • The first rub-a-dub on this tour of hostelries is remarkable in many ways. The Black Lion at 59 High Street, Plaistow, E13 (see entry), dates from the 15th century and was rebuilt as a coaching inn in 1875.2011, Roger Protz, Good Beer Guide
    • "Well," she replied, "when yer gets up from yer Uncle Ned and yer wants ter get away from the Trouble an' Strife, yer'd go dahn the Frog and Toad to meet yer China Plates at the Rubba-Dub-Dub!"2013, Chris Sharp, War Games in an Urban Village: A Personal Account of Boyhood
  5. (slang) A drunkard.
    • We got to the bar on Eleventh Avenue and walked in. It was empty except for the fat old bartender and a few old rubadubs on the stools at the bar.2014, Nolan Whyte, Among The Humans
    • MOE: C'mon, Homer, do it for your old pal Moesy.
      BARNEY: But Moe, yesterday you called Homer a worthless sack of—1993, "Duffless" (TV episode of The Simpsons)
    Synonyms:
    rubby-dub

Proper noun capitalized: Rubadub

Rubadub

  1. (derogatory, informal) Ramadan.
    • When I began working for Stan, he brought in a big book. He wanted me to put in any days I couldn't work. 'You know,' he said. 'Special days, holidays and stuff.' 'I don't understand, Stan.' 'You know, like Christmas or Rub-a-dub. 'Ah, I think you mean Ramadan, Stan. But I'm not actually a Muslim.'2015, Parmjit Dhanda, My Political Race: An Outsider's Journey to the Heart of British Politics

rubadub meaning in Tamil

rubadub in Tamil

முரசொலித்தல்

Synonyms of rubadub

Forms of rubadub

pluralrubadubs

Origin of rubadub

(drum sound): Imitative.

Questions about rubadub

What does rubadub mean?
Rubadub means the sound of a drum being continuously beaten.
What is rubadub in Tamil?
Rubadub in Tamil is முரசொலித்தல். See Rubadub meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is rubadub?
Rubadub can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of rubadub?
The plural of rubadub is rubadubs.

Words near rubadub in the dictionary

  1. ruba'iyat
  2. rubab
  3. rubaboo
  4. rubabs
  5. rubace
  6. rubadub
  7. rubadubs
  8. rubai
  9. rubais
  10. rubaiyat
  11. Rubalcaba

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rubadub (page history and authors); Rubadub (page history and authors); rubadub (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rubadub.wav.

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