rub

[[t]rʌ̱b[/t]]

rubs, rubbing, rubbed

1) VERB If you rub a part of your body, you move your hand or fingers backwards and forwards over it while pressing firmly.

[V n] He rubbed his arms and stiff legs...

[V prep/adv] `I fell in a ditch', he said, rubbing at a scrape on his hand.

2) VERB If you rub against a surface or rub a part of your body against a surface, you move it backwards and forwards while pressing it against the surface.

[V prep] A cat was rubbing against my leg...

[V n prep] He kept rubbing his leg against mine.

3) VERB If you rub an object or a surface, you move a cloth backward and forward over it in order to clean or dry it.

[V n] She took off her glasses and rubbed them hard...

He rubbed and rubbed but couldn't seem to get clean.

4) VERB If you rub a substance into a surface or rub something such as dirt from a surface, you spread it over the surface or remove it from the surface using your hand or something such as a cloth.

[V n prep] He rubbed oil into my back...

[V n prep] I pretended to rub a fleck of grit from one eye.

5) V-ERG If you rub two things together or if they rub together, they move backwards and forwards, pressing against each other.

[V n together] He rubbed his hands together a few times.

[V together] ...the 650-mile rift that separates the Pacific and North American geological plates as they rub together.

6) VERB If something you are wearing or holding rubs, it makes you sore because it keeps moving backwards and forwards against your skin.

Smear cream on to your baby's skin at the edges of the plaster to prevent it from rubbing. [Also V n]

Syn:

chafe

7) N-SING: the N Rub is used in expressions such as there's the rub and the rub is when you are mentioning a difficulty that makes something hard or impossible to achieve. [FORMAL]

`What do you want to write about?'. And there was the rub, because I didn't yet know.

Syn:

obstacle, snag

8) N-COUNT: usu sing A massage can be referred to as a rub.

She sometimes asks if I want a back rub.

9) N-COUNT: usu with supp A rub is a substance that you massage into your skin.

...a fresh cucumber rub for your whole face.

10) → See also rubbing

11) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you rub shoulders with famous people, you meet them and talk to them. You can also say that you rub elbows with someone, especially in American English.

He regularly rubs shoulders with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Kylie Minogue.

12) PHRASE: V inflects If you rub someone up the wrong way in British English, or rub someone the wrong way in American English, you offend or annoy them without intending to. [INFORMAL]

What are you going to get out of him if you rub him up the wrong way?

Syn:

annoy

13) to rub someone's nose in it → see nose

to rub salt into the wound → see salt

Phrasal Verbs:

- rub along

- rub down

- rub in

- rub off

- rub out