definition of

rub

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verb

/rʌb/

present tense
I/you/we/they	rub
he/she/it	rubs
present participle	rubbing
past tense	rubbed
past participle	rubbed

Related dictionary definitions

1
[intransitive/transitive] to press and move your hands or an object over a surface
The boy rubbed his eyes sleepily.
rub something off something:
Rub the skins of the peppers off when they have softened.
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: press, squeeze, depress, bite into, compress... more
1. a.
  to move your hand backwards and forwards across a part of someone’s body while pressing firmly, especially because that part of the body hurts
  Scott gently rubbed her back until the pain went away.
  Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: knead, scratch, buff, rasp, chafe... more
2. b.
  to move something such as a cloth backwards and forwards across a surface to clean it, dry it, or make it smooth
  rub something off something:
  He rubbed the dirt off the number plate with his sleeve.
  Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: wipe, polish, scrub, buff, finish... more
Collocations: rub
▪ briskly, gently, hard, lightly, vigorously
2
[transitive] to press and move one object against another or against a surface
rub something against something:
The cat rubbed its cheek against my leg.
rub something together:
Rub your hands together, it will help you to stay warm.
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: press, squeeze, depress, bite into, compress... more
1. a.
  to press and move against an object or a surface
  The cow rubbed against the fence.
  Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: knead, scratch, buff, rasp, chafe... more
2. b.
  [intransitive] British to hurt or damage something by continuously pressing and moving against it
  Cindy’s new shoes were rubbing and giving her blisters.
  Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: damage, spoil, mark, harm, stain... more
3
[transitive] to spread a liquid or substance onto the surface of something
rub something on something:
She rubbed some tanning oil on his back.
rub something with something:
Rub the chicken with garlic before putting it in the oven.
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: cover, wrap, coat, smother, bury... more

phrases

rub salt into the wound
informal
to make a bad situation even worse for someone
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: worsen, compound, escalate, aggravate, inflame... more
rub shoulders with someone
informal
to meet and talk to important or famous people
She’s rubbed shoulders with millionaires.
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: introduce, meet, come across, run into, see... more
rub someone up the wrong way
informal
to do or say things that annoy someone
Laura has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way.
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: annoy, provoke, anger, bother, frustrate... more

phrasal verbs

rub along

[intransitive] British

present tense
I/you/we/they	rub along
he/she/it	rubs along
present participle	rubbing along
past tense	rubbed along
past participle	rubbed along

to live or work with someone in a friendly way

We rub along pretty well most of the time.

Synonyms or related words for this meaning of

rub down

[transitive]

present tense
I/you/we/they	rub down
he/she/it	rubs down
present participle	rubbing down
past tense	rubbed down
past participle	rubbed down

to dry someone’s body by rubbing it with a towel

I rubbed myself down with a dry towel.

rub in

[transitive]

present tense
I/you/we/they	rub in
he/she/it	rubs in
present participle	rubbing in
past tense	rubbed in
past participle	rubbed in

1
to mix something such as butter or fat into another substance such as flour, using your fingers
Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter.
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: more
2
rub it in used to remind someone of something stupid or bad that they did
OK, I lost, no need to rub it in!
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: remind, come to, bring back, recall, trigger... more

rub off

[intransitive]

present tense
I/you/we/they	rub off
he/she/it	rubs off
present participle	rubbing off
past tense	rubbed off
past participle	rubbed off

if a quality that someone has rubs off, it starts to affect another person so that they start to have that quality too

rub off on:

Hopefully her enthusiasm will rub off on the rest of the team.

rub out

[transitive]

present tense
I/you/we/they	rub out
he/she/it	rubs out
present participle	rubbing out
past tense	rubbed out
past participle	rubbed out

1
British to remove with a rubber something that you have written or drawn in pencil, especially because you have made a mistake
If you make a mistake rub it out and rewrite the answer.
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: more
1. a.
  to remove writing or drawing from a blackboard, whiteboard etc so that the surface is clean
  When she returned to the whiteboard, someone had rubbed out all her calculations.
  Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: wipe, polish, scrub, buff, finish... more
2
American informal to kill someone
Synonyms or related words for this meaning of rub: kill, murder, strangle, assassinate, slaughter... more

This is the British English definition of rub. View American English definition of rub

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rub

What are red words?

Thesaurus

Related dictionary definitions

phrases

rub salt into the wound

rub shoulders with someone

rub someone up the wrong way

phrasal verbs

rub along

rub down

rub in

rub off

rub out

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Word of the Day

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Open Dictionary

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