Word.ws English Dictionary

rubs up against

rubs up against is the third-person singular simple present indicative of rub up against.

Meaning of rub up against

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.

Questions about rubs up against

What is rubs up against the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Rubs up against is the third-person singular simple present indicative of rub up against.

Words near rubs up against in the dictionary

  1. rubs someone up the wrong way
  2. rubs someone's face in
  3. rubs someone's nose in
  4. rubs the fear of God into
  5. rubs up
  6. rubs up against
  7. rubs up on
  8. rubs up the wrong way
  9. rubster
  10. rubsters
  11. rubstone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: rubs up against (page history and authors); 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.

Last updated:

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