rubbing

[ruhb-ing] /ˈrʌb ɪŋ/
noun
1.
an act or action of a person or thing that rubs.
2.
an impression of an incised or sculptured surface made by laying paper over it and rubbing with heelball, graphite, or a similar substance until the image appears.
Compare brass-rubbing.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English; see rub, -ing1

rub

[ruhb] /rʌb/
verb (used with object), rubbed, rubbing.
1.
to subject the surface of (a thing or person) to pressure and friction, as in cleaning, smoothing, polishing, coating, massaging, or soothing:
to rub a table top with wax polish; to rub the entire back area.
2.
to move (something) back and forth or with a rotary motion, as against or along another surface:
to rub the cloth over the glass pane.
3.
to spread or apply (something) with pressure and friction over something else or a person:
to rub lotion on her chapped hands.
4.
to move (two things) with pressure and friction over or back and forth over each other (often followed by together):
He rubbed his hands together.
5.
to mark, polish, force, move, etc. (something) by pressure and friction (often followed by over, in, or into).
6.
to remove by pressure and friction; erase (often followed by off or out).
verb (used without object), rubbed, rubbing.
7.
to exert pressure and friction on something.
8.
to move with pressure against something.
9.
to admit of being rubbed in a specified manner:
Chalk rubs off easily.
10.
Chiefly British. to proceed, continue in a course, or keep going with effort or difficulty (usually followed by on, along, or through):
He manages to rub along.
noun
11.
an act or instance of rubbing:
an alcohol rub.
12.
something that annoys or irritates one's feelings, as a sharp criticism, a sarcastic remark, or the like:
to resent rubs concerning one's character.
13.
an annoying experience or circumstance.
14.
an obstacle, impediment, or difficulty:
We'd like to travel, but the rub is that we have no money.
15.
a rough or abraded area caused by rubbing.
Verb phrases
16.
rub down,
  1. to smooth off, polish, or apply a coating to:
    to rub a chair down with sandpaper.
  2. to give a massage to.
17.
rub off on, to become transferred or communicated to by example or association:
Some of his good luck must have rubbed off on me.
18.
rub out,
  1. to obliterate; erase.
  2. Slang. to murder:
    They rubbed him out before he could get to the police.
Idioms
19.
rub it in, Informal. to emphasize or reiterate something unpleasant in order to tease or annoy:
The situation was embarrassing enough without having you rub it in.
20.
rub the wrong way, to irritate; offend; annoy:
a manner that seemed to rub everyone the wrong way.
21.
rub up, British Informal. to refresh one's memory of (a subject, language, etc.).
Origin
1300-50; 1860-65 for def 18b; Middle English rubben (v.); cognate with Frisian rubben, Danish rubbe, Swedish rubba
Related forms
unrubbed, adjective
well-rubbed, adjective
Synonyms
14. hitch, catch, thing, trouble, pinch.
Examples from the web for rubbing
  • rubbing a carpet with a piece of wet tissue to test its colorfastness is akin to licking a shirt before you buy it.
  • rubbing the knife with cooking oil will remove the sap.
  • The waiting room was always full and the office smelled strongly of rubbing alcohol.
  • On the other hand, many readers wrote telling us how much their dogs enjoyed rubbing up against these plants.
  • It behaved precisely as though it were rubbing against the ankles of some one who remained invisible.
  • Lift out of water with skimmer, and remove skin from feet and tail by rubbing with a towel.
  • And they imagine that by rubbing a paste of the ashes on their hair they prevent the hair from falling off their heads.
  • He might as well have been rubbing his hands together and cackling.
  • When rubbing alcohol wouldn't ignite the pair, the youths went to a local service station for gasoline, which worked.
  • There's plastic in cosmetics that we're rubbing into our skins to exfoliate.
British Dictionary definitions for rubbing

rubbing

/ˈrʌbɪŋ/
noun
1.
an impression taken of an incised or raised surface, such as a brass plate on a tomb, by laying paper over it and rubbing with wax, graphite, etc

rub

/rʌb/
verb rubs, rubbing, rubbed
1.
to apply pressure and friction to (something) with a circular or backward and forward motion
2.
to move (something) with pressure along, over, or against (a surface)
3.
to chafe or fray
4.
(transitive) to bring into a certain condition by rubbing: rub it clean
5.
(transitive) to spread with pressure, esp in order to cause to be absorbed: he rubbed ointment into his back
6.
(transitive) to mix (fat) into flour with the fingertips, as in making pastry
7.
foll by off, out, away, etc. to remove or be removed by rubbing
8.
(bowls) (of a bowl) to be slowed or deflected by an uneven patch on the green
9.
(transitive) often foll by together. to move against each other with pressure and friction (esp in the phrases rub one's hands, often a sign of glee, anticipation, or satisfaction, and rub noses, a greeting among Inuit people)
10.
(informal) rub someone's nose in it, to remind someone unkindly of his failing or error
11.
rub up the wrong way, to arouse anger (in); annoy
12.
(informal) rub shoulders with, rub elbows with, to mix with socially or associate with
noun
13.
the act of rubbing
14.
the rub, an obstacle or difficulty (esp in the phrase there's the rub)
15.
something that hurts the feelings or annoys; rebuke
16.
(bowls) an uneven patch in the green
17.
any roughness or unevenness of surface
18.
  1. (golf) an incident of accidental interference with the ball
  2. (informal) a piece of good or bad luck
See also rub along, rub down, rub in, rub off, rub out, rub up
Word Origin
C15: perhaps from Low German rubben, of obscure origin
Word Origin and History for rubbing

rub

v.

early 14c., transitive and intransitive, of uncertain origin, perhaps related to East Frisian rubben "to scratch, rub," and Low German rubbeling "rough, uneven," or similar words in Scandinavian (cf. Danish rubbe "to rub, scrub," Norwegian rubba), of uncertain origin. Related: Rubbed; rubbing.

To rub (someone) the wrong way is from 1853; probably the notion is of cats' fur. To rub noses in greeting as a sign of friendship (attested from 1822) formerly was common among Eskimos, Maoris, and some other Pacific Islanders. Rub out "obliterate" is from 1560s; underworld slang sense of "kill" is recorded from 1848, American English. Rub off "remove by rubbing" is from 1590s; meaning "have an influence" is recorded from 1959.

n.

"act of rubbing," 1610s, from rub (v.); earlier "obstacle, inequality on ground" (1580s, common in 17c.) which is the figure in Hamlet's there's the rub (1602).

rubbing in Medicine

rub (rŭb)
n.

  1. The application of friction and pressure.

  2. Such a procedure applied to the body.

Slang definitions & phrases for rubbing

rub

noun
  1. A dancing party (1920s+ Students)
  2. A session of hugging and kissing (1930s+ Students)
  3. A complaint; beef, bitch: What's your rub? (1990s+)
verb

rub out (1848+)


Idioms and Phrases with rubbing

rub

also see:
the rub
Encyclopedia Article for rubbing

one of the most universal and perhaps the oldest of the techniques used in printmaking. Rubbings are made by carefully pressing paper onto a carved or incised surface so that the paper conforms to the features to be copied. The paper is then blacked and the projecting areas of the surface become dark, while indented areas remain white. In East Asia, a special ink is used, and in the West, a mixture of wax and carbon black, called heelball, is rubbed onto the paper. A carefully made rubbing provides an accurate, full-scale facsimile of the surface reproduced.

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