Word.ws English Dictionary

rubbing salt in someone's wounds

rubbing salt in someone's wounds is the present participle and gerund of rub salt in someone's wounds.

Meaning of rub salt in someone's wounds

Verb

rub salt in someone's wounds (third-person singular simple present rubs salt in someone's wounds, present participle rubbing salt in someone's wounds, simple past and past participle rubbed salt in someone's wounds)

  1. (idiomatic) To make a painful situation even worse (even with the best of intentions).
    • John already feels guilty for what he did to you. Don't rub salt into his wounds.

Questions about rubbing salt in someone's wounds

What is rubbing salt in someone's wounds the present participle and gerund of?
Rubbing salt in someone's wounds is the present participle and gerund of rub salt in someone's wounds.

Words near rubbing salt in someone's wounds in the dictionary

  1. rubbing one's hands together
  2. rubbing oneself off
  3. rubbing out
  4. rubbing post
  5. rubbing posts
  6. rubbing salt in someone's wounds
  7. rubbing salt in the wound
  8. rubbing shoulders
  9. rubbing someone the wrong way
  10. rubbing someone up the wrong way
  11. rubbing someone's face in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rubbing salt in someone's wounds (page history and authors); rub salt in someone's wounds (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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