Word.ws English Dictionary

rubbing

/ˈɹʌbɪŋ/

rubbing noun: an impression of an embossed or incised surface made by placing a piece of paper over it and rubbing with graphite, crayon or other coloring agent. Also the present participle and gerund of rub.

rubbing: Abstract geometric patterns with swirls and squares
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Noun

rubbing (plural rubbings)

  1. An impression of an embossed or incised surface made by placing a piece of paper over it and rubbing with graphite, crayon or other coloring agent.
    • He was delighted to come across a little-worn crest of the old Great Eastern Railway, never dreaming that such a relic would still be in use, and was taking a pencil-rubbing to add to his collection.1951 April, R. S. McNaught, “Railway Enthusiasts”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 271

Also used as

rubbing is also the present participle and gerund of rub.

rubbing meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

rubbing in Hindi

रगड़ना

rubbing in Tamil

தேய்த்தல், தேய்த்துக் கொள்ளுதல், தேய்ப்பது

rubbing in Marathi

घासाघीस करणे

rubbing in Urdu

رگڑنا, رگڑتے ہوئے
More languagesFewer languages
rubbing in Bengali
ঘষা, ঘষছে, ঘষতে থাকা
rubbing in Telugu
రుద్దడం, రుద్దటం
rubbing in Malayalam
റബ്ബിംഗ്
rubbing in Kannada
ಉಜ್ಜುವುದು
rubbing in Punjabi
ਰਗਡ਼ਨਾ
rubbing in Odia
ଘଷିବା

Examples of rubbing in a sentence

  • I add zest to the meat by rubbing it with a spice mixture before grilling.
  • Rubbing amber with wool will charge it quickly.
  • The masseuse was rubbing my back too softly for my liking, so I asked her to go harder.

All 40 example sentences with rubbing

Forms of rubbing

pluralrubbings

Plural of rubbing: rubbings

Origin of rubbing

From Middle English rubbinge, rubbynge, equivalent to rub + -ing.

From rub + -ing.

Words formed from rubbing

Phrases with rubbing

20 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with rubbing

Questions about rubbing

What does rubbing mean?
Rubbing means an impression of an embossed or incised surface made by placing a piece of paper over it and rubbing with graphite, crayon or other coloring agent.
What is rubbing in Hindi?
Rubbing in Hindi is रगड़ना. See Rubbing meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is rubbing?
Rubbing is a noun.
How do you pronounce rubbing?
Rubbing is pronounced /ˈɹʌbɪŋ/.
What is the plural of rubbing?
The plural of rubbing is rubbings.

Words near rubbing in the dictionary

  1. rubbeth
  2. rubbidge
  3. rubbidges
  4. rubbies
  5. rubbin'
  6. rubbing
  7. rubbing alcohol
  8. rubbing alcohols
  9. rubbing along
  10. rubbing away
  11. rubbing down

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rubbing (page history and authors); rubbing (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); rubbing (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-rubbing.ogg.

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