See also: RUB

English edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Middle English rubben; possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną, related to *reufaną (to tear).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian rubje (to rub, scrape), German Low German rubben (to rub), Low German rubblig (rough, uneven), Dutch robben, rubben (to rub smooth; scrape; scrub), Danish rubbe (to rub, scrub), Icelandic and Norwegian rubba (to scrape).[1] More at reave.

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɹʌb/, [ɹɐb], enPR: rŭb
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɹʌb/, enPR: rŭb
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌb

Noun edit

rub (plural rubs)

  1. An act of rubbing.
    Give that lamp a good rub and see if any genies come out.
  2. A difficulty or problem.
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
      To die, to sleep— / To sleep—perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub! / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause
    • 1922 February, James Joyce, “Episode 16”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, [], →OCLC:
      [] the propriety of the cabman's shelter, as it was called, hardly a stonesthrow away near Butt bridge where they might hit upon some drinkables in the shape of a milk and soda or a mineral. But how to get there was the rub.
    • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
      'My dear Devereux, I say, you mustn't talk in that wild way. You—you talk like a ruined man!'
      'And I so comfortable!'
      'Why, to be sure, Dick, you have had some little rubs, and, maybe, your follies and your vexations; but, hang it, you are young; you can't get experience—at least, so I've found it—without paying for it. [] '
  3. (archaic) A quip or sarcastic remark.
  4. In the game of crown green bowls, any obstacle by which a bowl is diverted from its normal course.
  5. Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing.
    a heat rub intended for muscular strains
    1. A mixture of spices applied to meat before it is barbecued.
  6. (UK, naval slang) A loan.

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Verb edit

rub (third-person singular simple present rubs, present participle rubbing, simple past and past participle rubbed)

  1. (transitive) To move (one object) while maintaining contact with another object over some area, with pressure and friction.
    I rubbed the cloth over the glass.
    The cat rubbed itself against my leg.
    I rubbed my hands together for warmth.
    • 1680, T. K., The Kitchin-Phyſician; Or, a Guide for Good-Housewives in Maintaining Their Families in Health. [] [1], How to cleanſe the Teeth, and keep them ſound, page 44:
      You ſhould rub your Teeth and whole Mouth and Gums, the Pallate and Tongue, with a clean courſe cloth, rubbing off the ſlime which groweth upon them in the night.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      [] Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.
  2. (intransitive) To be rubbed against something.
    My shoes are beginning to rub.
  3. (transitive) To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.
    meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing
  4. (dated) To move or pass with difficulty.
    to rub through woods, as huntsmen
  5. To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over.
    to rub up silver
    • a. 1716, Robert South, Man Created in God's Image:
      The whole business of our redemption is, in short, only to rub over the defaced copy of the creation
  6. To hinder; to cross; to thwart.
  7. (transitive, bowls) To touch the jack with the bowl.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References edit

  1. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), “2520”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 2520

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Czech edit

 
Czech Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia cs
 
Rub of a credit card

Etymology edit

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *rǫbъ (something which was cut), from *rǫbati (to cut, chop).[1]

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

rub m inan

  1. back (the reverse side)
    Antonym: líc
    rub kartyback of the card
    rub mincereverse of the coin
  2. the other (often negative) aspect of a situation

Declension edit

Derived terms edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "rub" in Jiří Rejzek, Český etymologický slovník, electronic version, Leda, 2007

Further reading edit

  • rub in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • rub in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
  • rub in Internetová jazyková příručka

Lower Sorbian edit

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

rub

  1. second-person singular imperative of rubaś

Manx edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from English rub.

Noun edit

rub m (genitive singular rub, plural rubbyn)

  1. rub

Verb edit

rub (verbal noun rubbey or rubbal)

  1. to rub

Serbo-Croatian edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *rǫbъ.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

rȗb m (Cyrillic spelling ру̑б)

  1. rim
  2. edge, brink

Declension edit

Yola edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English ribbe, from Old English ribb, from Proto-West Germanic *ribi.

Noun edit

rub (plural rubbès)

  1. rib

References edit

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 65