rub
• verb (rubbed, rubbing) 1 apply firm pressure to (a surface) with a repeated back and forth motion. 2 move to and fro against a surface while pressing or grinding against it. 3 apply with a rubbing action. 4 (rub down) dry, smooth, or clean by rubbing. 5 (rub in/into) work (fat) into (a mixture) by breaking and blending it with the fingertips. 6 reproduce the design of (a sepulchral brass or a stone) by rubbing paper laid on it with pencil or chalk. • noun 1 an act of rubbing. 2 an ointment designed to be rubbed on the skin. 3 (the rub) the central or most important difficulty. from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (iii. i. 65). — PHRASES rub along Brit. informal cope or get along without undue difficulty. the rub of the green 1 Golf an accidental or unpredictable influence on the course or position of the ball. 2 good fortune. rub one’s hands rub one’s hands together to show keen satisfaction. rub it in (or rub someone’s nose in something) informal emphatically draw someone’s attention to an embarrassing or painful fact. rub noses rub one’s nose against someone else’s in greeting (as is traditional among Maoris and some other peoples). rub off be transferred by contact or association. rub out 1 erase (pencil marks) with a rubber. 2 N. Amer. informal kill. rub shoulders (or N. Amer. elbows) associate or come into contact. rub (up) the wrong way anger or irritate. — ORIGIN perhaps from Low German rubben, of unknown ultimate origin.
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