| 释义 |
▪ I. rub, n.1|rʌb|
Also 6–7 rubbe, 7–8 rubb.
[f. rub v.1]
1. a. An act or spell of rubbing.
1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 23 That no tree..touch his fellowes... If they touch, the winde will cause a forcible rub. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 96 It costs him many a Rub with his Paws, before he can make his Top-Lights to shine clearly. 1812Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. ii. App. 13 It got a good rub of harrowing, so as to fill up the seams betwixt the furrows. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 597 For every six turns of circular motion, it must receive two or three rubs across the diameter. 1891C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 138 By doing this the feathers all came off with a rub.
b. spec. The act of rubbing down a horse.
1662Dk. Newcastle's Racing Rules (MS. Wood 276 a, fol. 149), The reliefe is to be onely water, the Rub but halfe an houre, and then the Judge is to bid them mount.
c. Naval slang. A loan of. Also const. at.
1914‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xxi. 193 ‘Don't you take on, Taff,’ said another, pushing over his pannikin of rum. ‘'Ave a rub at this lot.’ 1919W. Lang Sea Lawyer's Log xiii. 162 ‘Innyone as hasn't had a letter can have a rub of mines,’ says Moriarty, the big Irishman, generously. 1946J. Irving Royal Navalese 147 ‘The rub of a dollar’ means the loan of a dollar. 1948Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 158 Give us a rub of five bob till pay day!
2. a. Bowls. An obstacle or impediment by which a bowl is hindered in, or diverted from, its proper course; also, the fact of a bowl meeting with such impediment.
In 16–17th cent. freq. in figurative contexts.
1586Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 97/1 Whereby appeareth how dangerous it is to be a rub, when a king is disposed to sweepe an alleie. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, iii. iv. 4 La. Madame, wee'le play at Bowles. Qu. 'Twill make me thinke the World is full of Rubs, And that my fortune runnes against the Byas. c1613Middleton No Wit like Woman's ii. iii, There's three rubs gone, I've a clear way to the mistress. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xix. 440 He would not..lay the unexpected rubs in the allie to the bowlers fault, who took good aim though missing the mark. 1681J. Flavel Right. Man's Ref. 196 It spoils their game by an unforeseen rub in the green. 1757J. Abercrombie in R. Rogers Jrnl. (1883) 73 It is impossible to play at bowls without meeting with rubs. 1876Encycl. Brit. IV. 180/2 A ‘rub’..is when a jack or bowl, in transitu, comes in contact with any object on the green.
†b. In general use: Any physical obstacle or impediment to movement. Also fig. Obs.
1679M. Prance Add. Narrative 16 A Bowl thrown from the Top of an Hill, leaps over all Rubs, Lets, and Impediments, till it comes to the bottom. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 59 Water..passes along..whilst it has no resistance before it; but if it meets with any rub, it spreads all round about. 1734― Exp. Phil. I. 220 The Pole [of a carriage] that bends sends back the Wheel a little when there is a Rub to be overcome. 1753Hogarth Anal. Beauty x. 61 The point of the pencil..would perpetually meet with stops and rubs. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 131 Men..who would be perpetually putting rubs before the wheels of good government. 1821Scott Kenilw. xvi. There will be rubs in the smoothest road, specially when it leads up hill.
c. rub of (or on) the green, in golf, an accidental interference with the course or position of a ball. Also fig.
1842in R. Clark Golf (1875) 140 The green has its bunkers, its hazards, and rubs. a1875Ibid. 276 Whatever happens to a ball by accident..must be reckoned a rub of the green. 1881Forgan Golfer's Handbk. 35 Rub on the Green. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 31 Dec. 1048/4 If he is unfortunate in having finished his task before his problem was knocked completely out of shape by England's suspension of the gold standard, that is just the ‘rub of the green’. 1962Guardian 5 Nov. 2/2 If applications..reached fantastic proportions, the Government would have to consider the matter. ‘At present we treat it as a rub of the green.’
3. An obstacle, impediment, hindrance, or difficulty, of a non-material nature:
†a. With addition of in (or on) one's way, course, etc. Obs.
Very common from c 1590 to c 1775.
1590Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. Wks. (Grosart) I. 214 Some small rubs, as I heare, haue been cast in my way to hinder my comming forth, but they shall not profit. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. ii. 188 We doubt not now, But euery Rubbe is smoothed on our way. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. vi. v. (1651) 580 They are well inclined to marry, but one rub or other is ever in the way. 1641Sir R. Baker Apol. 115 The Clergie man hath..many Imployments which are as rubs in his course of Learning. 1697J. Sergeant Solid Philos. 62 Some Rubs I have put in the way of this Pretence. 1728Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. ii. i. 49 If it is not too far gone; at least it may be worth one's while to throw a Rub in his way. 1790Bystander 25 If the sister throws any rub in my way, so much the worse for her.
b. In general use. Now rare or Obs.
Very common during the 17th and 18th centuries.
1607Middleton Michaelmas Term iv. iii, I have no sense to sorrow for his death, whose life was the only rub to my affection. 1640Sir K. Digby in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1888) IV. 135 Your father..is at euery rubb called vpon by the King, as yf nothing could be well done, that he did not dictate. 1686Goad Celest. Bodies i. xviii. 116 We must look for some Rubs in pursuit of Natural Knowledge. 1724Swift Drapier's Lett. iv. Wks. 1751 VIII. 354 Which is a great Smoother of Rubs in publick Proceedings. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §176 These unexpected rubs were not however insuperable. 1806Scott 11 Feb. in Lockhart II. iii. 93 Notwithstanding some little rubs, I have been able to carry through the transaction. 1814Lady Burghersh Lett. (1893) 179 We had then just heard of the rub which Sacken's corps, under Blücher, had received.
c. In phr. there's (or here lies) the rub.
1602Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 65 To sleepe, perchance to Dreame; I, there's the rub. 1712Steele Spect. No. 533 ⁋1 But her Relations are not Intimates with mine. Ah! there's the Rub. c1769Goldsm. Epil. to ‘The Sisters’ 11, I will. But how? ay, there's the rub! 1821Scott Pirate xxxiv, Here lies the rub... When she hears of you she will be at you. 1887Jessopp Arcady i. 28 Oh, the labour market! there's the rub!
†4. A roughness; an unevenness or inequality.
1605Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 134 To leaue no Rubs nor Botches in the Worke. 1647H. More Cupid's Confl. xxxii, Nor rub nor wrinkle would thy verses spoil, Thy rhymes should run as glib and smooth as oyl. 1682Sir T. Browne Chr. Mor. ii. ix, Able to discover the inequalities, rubbs, and hairiness of the Skin. 1747Gentl. Mag. 78 It may be drawn over a floor with such notches, or rubs.
5. a. An intentional wound or chafe given to the feelings of another; in later use esp. a slight reproof or teasing.
1642Rogers Naaman 89 Both the former rubs, and this affront..wrought a marvellous abasement in his soule. 1677Govt. Venice 277 They many times give them such rubs and mortifications, that they are quickly taken down. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton x. (1840) 182 You have always one dry rub or another to give us. 1780F. Burney Diary May, He failed not to give me a rub for my old offence. 1841Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Auto-da-Fé, Each felt the rub, And in Spain not a Sub Much less an Hidalgo, can stomach a snub. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 135 Then I'd give 'em a rub up on the smoking mania. 1887Service Life Dr. Duguid xvi. 102 She seldom saw me but she gied me a bit rub aboot Leezie.
b. An encounter with something annoying or disagreeable; an unpleasant experience in one's relations with others.
1645Quarles Sol. Recant. ix. 48 Then chear, my soul; Let not the rubs of earth Disturb thy peace, or interrupt thy mirth. 1733Miss Kelly in Swift Lett. (1768) IV. 41 Your friendship..makes me bear the common rubs of life with patience. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. i, We sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favours. 1822Earl of Dudley Lett. 23 Aug. (1840) 352 A man of business should be quick, decisive, and callous against small rubs. 1862Thornbury Turner I. 336 The Téméraire had doubtless had its rubs as a French battle-ship. 1899Speaker 29 July 106/2 His deanery palled on him..; its quasi-episcopal rubs and worries..were to him intolerable.
6. pl. = rubbers. rare—1.
1799Young's Annals Agric. XXXIII. 418 (E.D.S.), A complaint [in sheep]..called by the shepherds [in Suffolk] the rubs or rubbers, because of their seeming to rub themselves to death.
7. a. dial. A mower's whetstone.
1823E. Moor Suffolk Words 321 Rub, the gritty, silicious aggregate with which the lusty mower whets his sythe. 1892P. H. Emerson Son of Fens xiv. 110 Ha' you got a good old rough rub? My cutter is rather thick.
b. A plater's tool used for smoothing the silver.
1870Eng. Mechanic 25 Feb. 573/1 We now come to the ‘rubbing’, which is a sort of burnishing with a rough burnisher called a rub.
8. A sound as of rubbing.
1907R. H. Babcock Dis. Lungs xxvi. 511 If the chest be examined a friction-rub is likely to be detected on the side corresponding to the pain... The symptoms are the result of a dry, circumscribed pleurisy. Ibid. xxxv. 726 The so-called pleuritic friction sound or pleuritic rub..is a succession of fine crackling sounds..produced by the separation of the two pleural surfaces or by their rubbing together when rendered sticky. 1950Audio Engin. Aug. 15/3 When the cause of the noise is mechanical, as in defective or ill-designed speakers, pickups and microphones, we may hear rattles,..rub, and wheeze. 1976Lancet 13 Nov. 1083/1 Bronchial breath sounds and a pleural rub were present over the right middle lobe.
9. Special Combs.: rub resistance, the degree to which print will withstand rubbing without becoming smudged or detached; so rub-resistant a.
1958E. A. Apps Printing Ink Technol. xxvii. 431 A high standard of rub-resistance is necessary in inks used for food cartons which are jostled in transport, and for display cards which are frequently handled. Ibid. 432 Inks which tend to give gloss and very level films are also usually fairly rub-resistant. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset xvi. 240 Anti-driers retard drying on the machine and modifiers such as waxes and oils control setting, flow,..and rub-resistance.
▪ II. † rub, n.2 Obs. rare.
(See rub v.2)
1613Uncas. Machiav. 9 At Ruffe and Trumpe note thou the dealers rubs. [1613Answ. Uncas. Machiav. F 2 For deale or rub, whose hap so ere it be to haue, The knaue of Clubs will euer be a knaue.]
▪ III. rub, n.3|rʌb|
Abbrev. of rubber n.2 2.
1830H. Lee Mem. Manager II. vii. 28 Play an occasional rub or two at whist. 1859Lang Wand. India 9 The good players are playing high..—five gold mohurs on the rub. 1887J. Ashby-Sterry Lazy Minstrel (1892) 139 We've heaps of friends, a quiet ‘rub’, A pleasant dinner at the Club.
▪ IV. rub, v.1|rʌb|
Also 4–7 rubbe (4 robbe), 5–6 rube, 6 roub.
[ME. rubben, = LG. rubben (whence prob. Da. rubbe, Sw., Norw., and Icel. rubba): the further etym. is obscure.]
I. trans.
1. a. To subject (a surface or substance) to the action of something (as the hand, a cloth, etc.) moving over it, or backwards and forwards upon it, with a certain amount of pressure and friction. Also with compl. (quots. 1377, 1697).
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 99 Þus sone þis doctour, As rody as a rose rubbed [v.r. robbed] his chekes. c1440Promp. Parv. 438/2 Rubbyn, or chafyn, frico. 1483Cath. Angl. 313/1 To Rub, fricare. 1530Palsgr. 695/1 Rubbe the chyldes heed, nouryce, to bring hym aslepe. 1553Bale Vocation 35 b, A gentilman of the contraie..rubbed me on the elbowe and bad me..lete him alone. 1611Bible Tobit xi. 12 And when his eyes beganne to smart, he rubbed them. 1678Lady Chaworth in Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. App. V. 48 A wolfe's tooth..to rub his teeth with for easier breeding them. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 542 Th' officious Nymphs..rub his Temples, with fine Towels, dry. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 244, I..caused Friday to rub his Ankles. 1826F. Reynolds Life & Times I. 145 Sending our horses to the stables, and seeing them well rubbed, and fed. 1842Tennyson Day-Dream, Revival 19 The king awoke,..And yawn'd, and rubb'd his face. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 432 Socrates, sitting up on the couch, began to bend and rub his leg.
Prov.1596Spenser F.Q. iv. i. 40 My selfe will for you fight, As ye have done for me; the left hand rubs the right. 1652J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox ix. 196 In the Country, one hand rubb's the other as in Citties.
absol.1662Dk. Newcastle's Racing Rules (MS. Wood 276 a, fol. 149), There must be three heats, the first to Sparton-hill, there to rub halfe an hour.
b. To press (ears of corn) with friction between the hands, in order to extract the grain. (Cf. 11 b.)
1508Dunbar Flyting 117 Fane at evin for to bring hame a single, Syne rubb it at ane vthir auld wyfis ingle. 1526Tindale Luke vi. 1 His disciples plucked the eares of corne, and ate them, and rubbed them in their hondes.
c. To make (one's hands) move over and press upon each other, as a sign of satisfaction. Also fig.
1778F. Burney Evelina lxxxii, [He] rubbed his hands, and was scarce able to contain the fullness of his glee. 1831Scott Ct. Rob. vi, He sighed and rubbed his hands with pleasure, like a man newly restored to liberty. 1893W. Forbes-Mitchell Remin. Gt. Mutiny 220 Sir Colin..jumped to his feet, rubbing his hands. 1922Joyce Ulysses 324 The Times rubbed its hands and told the whitelivered Saxons there would soon be as few Irish in Ireland as redskins in America. 1966Listener 30 June 936/1 The British Government has invested half a million pounds on this display of international sport and the London hotel-keepers are rubbing their hands. 1973Times 30 Apr. 5/4 Cloth manufacturers of all sorts must be rubbing their hands just now, because fashion definitely calls now for a greater volume of material per garment.
d. To press with friction against (a thing).
1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 154 Idle cows rubbing the post.
e. spec. (See quot. 1861.)
1861Sat. Rev. 22 June 647/1 These brasses are capable of being ‘rubbed’, that is, of having an impression taken of them..by covering them with paper, and rubbing with some fitting substance upon the paper. A likeness of the brass is thus produced, the plain portions being dark, and the incisions remaining..white. 1879Westwood Lapid. Walliæ 157 She placed the stone in the south porch of the church, where I carefully examined, drew, and rubbed it.
2. a. To subject to pressure and friction in order to clean, polish, make smooth, or sharpen. Also const. with.
1382Wyclif Lev. vi. 28 If it were a brasun vessel, it shal be rubbid, and washe with water. c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 561 Who rubbeth now, who froteth now his lippes With dust, with sond, with straw, with clooth, with chippes? 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 138 The more it is polysshed or rubbed, the more perfytly it receyueth the lyght. 1530Palsgr. 695/1, I rubbe thynges with a cloute to make them cleane, je torche. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iii. 128 Goe sir, rub your Chaine with crums. 1667Primatt City & C. Build. 75 That this sort of work to be Rubbed..is worth thirty four or thirty five shillings a Rod. 1678Moxon Mech. Exerc., Handyworks I. iv. 64 When you have occasion to take your Iron out of the Stock to rub it, that is to whet it. a1756Eliza Heywood New Present (1771) 252 To rub the stove and fire-irons. 1796Morse Amer. Geogr. I. 491 They are kept very neat, being rubbed with a mop almost every day. 1843Penny Cycl. XXV. 426/1 The two faces of the tool must be rubbed to such an obtuse angle as to appear almost straight. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxii. (1856) 172 The masses..have been rubbed as round as pebbles. 1861F. Nightingale Nursing (ed. 2) 61 The old-fashioned polished oak floor, which is wet-rubbed and dry-rubbed every morning to remove the dust.
fig.1749Chesterfield Lett. cxlv. (1774) I. 398 You will now, in the course of a few months, have been rubbed at three of the considerable Courts of Europe.
b. fig. To revive, stir up, in respect of memory or recollection. More freq. with up: see 13 a, b, c.
1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 248 If at our arriuall thou wilt renew thy tale, I will rub my memorie. 1622Fletcher Span. Cur. ii. i, The Mony rubbs 'em into strange remembrances. 1634Sir T. Herbert Travels 110 This would rub afresh his former iniustice..that all men might see apparantly his auarice. 1813Scott 25 July in Lockhart, You should rub him often on this point, for his recollection becomes rusty.
†c. To examine closely. Obs. rare.
a1614D. Dyke Myst. Self-deceiving (1614) 340 To haue the conscience rubbed and ransacked. So that with Dauid it cryeth: Try mee, O Lord. 1653Z. Bogan Mirth Chr. Life 21, I will not rub the questions whether these angells can contract themselves.
3. a. To affect painfully or disagreeably; to annoy, irritate. Chiefly in various phrases.
1523[see gall n.2 1 c]. 1581Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 44 Is it the bitter, but wholsome Iambick, which rubs the galled minde? 1604Shakes. Oth. v. i. 11, I haue rub'd this yong Quat almost to the sense, And he growes angry. 1610― Temp. ii. i. 138 You rub the sore, When you should bring the plaister. 1660R. Coke Power & Subj. 270, I have rubbed some sores which are not convenient to bee touched at this time.
1868G. J. Whyte-Melville White Rose II. v. 66 It is no unusual drawback to married life, this same knack of ‘rubbing the hair’ the wrong way. 1883J. Hawthorne Dust xxviii, Philip..was always rubbed the wrong way by Lady Flanders.
†b. To impede, hinder. Obs.—1 (Cf. rub n.1 3.)
1605Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 161 'Tis the Duke['s] pleasure, Whose disposition all the world well knowes Will not be rub'd nor stopt.
c. To chafe, abrade, make rough or ragged.
1805Naval Chron. XIV. 331 She got a little rubbed. 1808Med. Jrnl. XIX. 454 Where the vesicle from neglect has been much rubbed, or otherwise injured. 1880J. Dunbar Pract. Papermaker 29 The continual vibration of the cover rubs the stuff.
4. To treat (a surface) with some substance (esp. in a soft or liquid form) applied by means of friction and pressure.
1535Coverdale Ezek. xvi. 4 Thou wast nether rubbed with salt, ner swedled in cloutes. 1566Drant Wail. of Jeremiah K iiij, Fayre Tsyons elders..sytte downe in silence deepe, Theyr heade yrubde with ashes pale. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. ii. 50 A rubs himselfe with Ciuit. 1667Milton P.L. i. 774 The suburb of thir Straw-built Cittadel, New rub'd with Baume. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 25/1 Beams made of..Thorn rub'd over with Oyl. 1799Med. Jrnl. II. 42 The practitioner..directed him to rub every evening, a certain part of his body with the oxygenated ointment. 1847W. C. L. Martin Ox 172/1 The affected quarter..should be well rubbed with a weak camphorated mercurial ointment. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxv. 191 He continued to rub his hands with snow and brandy.
fig.1663S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xx, There is none but either commends a vice, or impresses it on us, or secretly rubs us with it.
5. a. To bring into contact with another body or surface by means of friction accompanied with pressure. Const. against, on, over, and together. Joc. phr. not to have two pennies to rub together, and varr., expressing lack of money or poverty.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 80 Rubbe it on þe saphir or on cristall. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §18 The sheepe wylle rubbe them on the stakes. 1530Palsgr. 695/1, I rubbe..one thynge agaynst an other, je frotte. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Frico, To rubbe their sides agaynst the tree. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 401 He rubs his Sides against a Tree. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 334 Others are of opinion the sound is produced by rubbing its hinder legs against each other. 1811Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 547 Rub them together until the globules disappear. 1847W. C. L. Martin Ox 161/1 The tormented animal rubs itself against posts, palings, gates, or the boles of trees. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola xxvii, [He] closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face and hair. 1929M. de la Roche Whiteoaks vii. 98 George, like Finch, was always hard up. Sometimes they had not between them two coins to rub together. 1977K. O'Hara Ghost of T. Penry xvii. 172 I've known Mrs Bathhurst without two pennies to rub together, and always..concerned about others.
b. To bring (a part of the body) into reciprocal contact; hence to rub shoulders (etc.) with, to come into contact, to associate, with others. Also to rub elbows (with) (chiefly U.S.).
1645Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 4 We cannot but rub skins with corruption. 1834Tait's Mag. I. 39/2 Against how many hundreds a-day does not such a thing rub shoulders. 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxv, She had rubbed shoulders with the great. 1851Carlyle Life J. Sterling i. viii. 74 One right peal of concrete laughter at some convicted flesh-and-blood absurdity, one burst of noble indignation at some injustice or depravity, rubbing elbows with us on this solid Earth. 1863Sat. Rev. 4 April 437 The river is wide enough..to allow..steamboats to keep within view of the race without absolutely rubbing sides. 1906U. Sinclair Jungle xxvi. 327 Young white girls from the country rubbing elbows with big buck Negroes with daggers in their boots. 1916L. N. Parker Disraeli ii. 56 You would pass him in the street without the faintest idea you had rubbed elbows with one of the world's greatest powers! 1922Joyce Ulysses 497 Have we cold feet about the cosmos? No... You have that something within, the higher self. You can rub shoulders with a Jesus, a Gautama, an Ingersoll. 1946Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues ii. 21, I got my kicks out of rubbing elbows with all those bigtime gamblers. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) i. 8 A whorehouse was about the only place where black and white folks could meet in any natural way. They damn well couldn't rub elbows in the churches. 1961in Webster s.v. rub vb., Reports on social products rub shoulders with book reviews and notes. 1976E. Maclaren Nature of Belief iii. 20 I'm rubbing shoulders with questions of religious philosophy all the time. 1979Yale Alumni Mag. Apr. (Suppl.) cn20/3 As a piano played show tunes of the 1930's, Teng rubbed elbows with George Weyerhauser of the Weyerhauser Co.
†c. fig. To fix (a charge, etc.) on one. Obs.
1618Abp. Spottiswoode in Spottiswoode Misc. (1844) I. 86, I feare it be the purpose of many to rubbe this waye vpon his Majesty the imputation of tyrannie. c1690J. Fraser Mem. in Sel. Biog. Wodrow Soc. (1847) II. 184 It offends God by rubbing a lie on him, and calling the work of his spirit a natural work.
d. to rub noses (with), to touch noses in greeting, in token of friendship. Also fig.
This custom was practised among Eskimos, Maoris (see hongi), and elsewhere in the Pacific Islands. Among Eskimos it has practically died out.
1822G. F. Lyon Jrnl. 28 July (1824) vi. 247 When the principal [Eskimo dancer] had pretty well exhausted himself, he walked gravely up to him, and taking his head between his hands, rubbed noses with him amidst the plaudits of all present. 1832A. Earle Narr. Residence N.Z. 159 He..rubbed noses so forcibly with me that I felt his friendship for some time. 1858R. M. Ballantyne Coral Island xx. 242 Tararo went up to Jack and rubbed noses with him... Seeing that this was their mode of salutation..we rubbed noses heartily with the whole party. 1891Guardian 25 Feb. 312/2 Bringing the most different people to ‘rub noses’ with one another. 1945D. Leechman Eskimo Summer 240 Before they had much contact with white men, the Eskimos used to rub noses on meeting old friends after a protracted absence. 1964Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 15 June (1970) 169 Lynda Bird..had enjoyed Hawaii hugely, rubbing noses with Maori children. 1973‘D. Jordan’ Nile Green xx. 82 He's got three daughters and an Eskimo au pair girl... It's all this rubbing noses... It gets him down.
e. to rub one's nose in it: see nose n. 9 e.
6. Const. with various prepositions.
a. To remove, take or clear away, from, off, or out of, by rubbing.
1508Dunbar Flyting 64 Wit and wisdome ane wisp fra the may rub. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 109 Some wyth holdynge in the nocke of theyr shafte too harde, rub the skyn of there fingers. a1676Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iv. vii. (1677) 348 Mankind..never rubs the Corn out of the Ear. 1798J. Baillie Tryal iv. iii, Hav'nt you rubbed the skin off your shins, Sir Loftus? 1816Scott Old Mort. xliii, Were he once rubbed out of the way, all, he thinks, will be his own. 1886Mrs. J. H. Riddell For Dick's Sake i, Before London..has begun to rub the sleepy dust out of her great eyes.
b. To reduce to powder by rubbing.
1726Swift Gulliver i. viii, Some of his best Bisket, which rubbed to Powder,..was their constant Food. 1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Copper, This may be rubbed to powder. 1811Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 698 Rub them together to a powder.
c. To force into or through, spread over, a surface by rubbing. Also fig. (cf. 9 c).
1778Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) III. 2293/2 Covering it as thin as possible, and rubbing it into the paper with a leather-stump. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xx. 231, I ordered the nitro-muriatic acid liniment to be rubbed over his chest. 1857T. Moore Handbk. Brit. Ferns (ed. 3) 26 Rub the soil through a sieve with half-inch square meshes. 1869R. T. Claridge Cold Water Cure 86 What pain will he not endure; what poisons swallow or rub into his flesh? 1879H. James Bundle Lett. No. iv, The other one rubs it into me too; but in a different way. 1894Athenæum 10 March 316/2 The following lesson..cannot be too thoroughly rubbed into the present as well as the rising generation.
II. With adverbs.
7. rub away, to remove by rubbing.
c1400Rule St. Benet 2275 Þat whils scho rubes a-way þe rust, Þe vessel fal not al to dust. 1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 106 It smerted so sore that he muste rubbe and washe it a way. 1893J. Ashby-Sterry Naughty Girl vi, [She] tried to rub her tears away with the back of her hand.
8. rub down:
a. To clean (a horse) from dust and sweat by rubbing.
1673[R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 101 Not that I would have him to do..so much as to rub down a bishops horses heels. 1693Stepney tr. Juvenal viii. 271 When his Fellow-Beasts are weary grown, He'll play the Groom, give Oats, and rub 'em down. 1779Mirror No. 62, I just ordered my horse to be rubbed down. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 180 After the horses are rubbed down, the men proceed to the straw-barn.
b. To make smooth, to reduce, grind down, etc., by rubbing.
1794Rigging & Seamanship 88 Rubber, a small iron instrument..to rub down or flatten the seams. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxxix, Ground in yonder social mill We rub each other's angles down. 1852Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 175 He has rubbed it all down with pumice-stone. 1887D. A. Low Machine Draw. (1892) 3 The colour should be rubbed down in a dish.
c. colloq. To search (a person) by passing the hand all over the body and limbs.
188719th Cent. XXII. 487 The custom of ‘rubbing down’ each labourer as he passes the dock gates. 1903W. B. Nevill Penal Serv. v. 42 A man who had been in prison over a year, and who must therefore have been ‘rubbed down’ at least a thousand times.
9. rub in:
a. To apply (dry colours) by rubbing; to draw or sketch in this way.
1811Self Instructor 556 Rub in your crayons according to their proper colours. 1857J. H. Steggall Hist. Suffolk Man x. (1859) 166 To rub in the dead colour, and your own figure more particularly. Ibid., And rapidly indeed did the facetious fellow rub me in, and make a good likeness of me. 1882Gd. Words 604 Here again, while I am out-tackling, Crayon rubs in a few outlines.
b. To apply (an ointment, etc.) by means of continued rubbing.
1837Penny Cycl. IX. 439/1 Having rubbed in the charcoal and oil. 1865Mrs Carlyle Lett. III. 259 Geraldine rubbed it [the liniment] in for an hour. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 859 Chrysarobin is rubbed in for ten minutes.
c. slang. To emphasize or reiterate (esp. something disagreeable). (Cf. 6 c.)
1870Daily News 26 May (Farmer), Rubbing it in well is a well-known phrase amongst the doubtful portion of the constabulary. 1897Kipling Capt. Cour. ix, Ye needn't rub it in any more.
10. rub off, to remove by rubbing.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. 71 His Enemy..Hastes to some Tree..whereon To..rub-off his detested Zone. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 37 When he puts a bud in any place where you would not haue him, rub it off with your finger. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. 4 His Rythmes, which we here set down, with all the rust thereof, without rubbing it off. 1779Mirror No. 3 Without any danger of this colouring being rubbed off. 1810Crabbe Borough x. 82 We to our neighbours and our equals come, And rub off pride that man contracts at home. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. p. xiii, Modern languages have rubbed off this inferential and adversative form.
11. rub out:
a. To efface, erase, obliterate by rubbing. Also fig. (chiefly U.S.), to wipe out, kill.
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 93 He rubbeth out the print of his bodie and steps. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 323 May we utterly rubbe out the old blemish. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 208 The pencil doth sometimes help the art, as well by rubbing out what was painted, as by painting. 1679V. Alsop Anti-sozzo iii. iv. 321 It's as possible..for the Leopard to rub out his Dapples, as for such an one to doe good. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 41 Why should a Man rub out good Things, without a solid Consideration for it. 1819Shelley Peter Bell 3rd vii. iii, Like one who rubs out an account. 1894A. Robertson Nuggets 179 There wasn't a figure in the landscape. She was rubbed out of the drawing.
fig.1848G. F. Ruxton Life in Far West i. 13 Five of our boys got rubbed out that time. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 303 You seem to have seen these poor fellows..just before they were rubbed out. 1936E. Ambler Dark Frontier vii. 111 Rovzidski rubbed out by Red Gauntlet mob... Government fail to take action against slayers. 1946L. B. Lyon Rough Walk Home 24 Again the random child by robot thumb Of war rubbed out. 1950A. Lomax Mr. Jelly Roll 220 The gangsters..had promised to rub him out if he didn't stop trying to hire away their star New Orleans side-men. 1957Wodehouse Over Seventy xii. 125 The heavy goes to his asylum, and two months later is released as cured. Upon which, he dresses up as a Siberian wolf-hound and hurries off to rub out another citizen. 1961B. Fergusson Watery Maze xiv. 333 The first task was to destroy the enemy's radar organisation, and the R.A.F. addressed themselves to the job of rubbing out as many stations as they could. 1979E. Newman Sunday Punch xxiv. 214, I learned what the man muttered when the fight ended and Aubrey was declared the winner. It was: ‘That Philpott-Grimes. I maybe rub him out.’
b. To extract (corn) from the ear by rubbing.
1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 146 My Corn, which I always rubb'd out as soon as it was dry.
c. Printing. (See quot. 1888.)
1683[see rubbed]. 1787Printer's Gram. 350 Before the Pressman goes to work, he rubs out his Ink. 1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 115 Rub out ink, to rub by means of the brayer the ink on the ink table previous to distribution.
†d. (See quot.) Obs.
a1793J. Pearson Polit. Dict. 50 Rubbing-out, a cursed hawking, and spitting, and shuffling of the feet, at any Member the House does not like to hear speak. Sir Joseph Mawbey was rubbed out the last Parliament.
12. rub over, to go over (with the hand, a tool, etc.) in the process of rubbing.
1647N. Ward Simp. Cobler 84, I come to rubbe over my work. 1778Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) III. 2292/2 With some fine-pounded charcoal..rub over the pierced lines. 1876Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 18 Zinc may be amalgamated by being first cleaned..and then rubbed over with mercury.
13. rub up:
a. To revive, recall to mind (some recollection, incident, etc.).
1572Buchanan Detection Mary Q. Scots I j b, I had rathest rubbe vp the remembrance of that day quhen the Quene..came to the nobilitie. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 673 We spake of it before, but we must of necessitie often rub up the remembrance thereof. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 596 Rubbing up the slaughters at Caire, Eubœa, Methoni, and Constantinople. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lxvi. (1739) 147 Then the Clergy rub up old sores, and exhibit their complaints to their holy Father. 1680Sir C. Lyttelton in Hatton Corr. (Camden) I. 232 If you have a mind to rubb up y⊇ memory of yr old loves, I can help you a little in it. 1715Disc. on Death 7 They..began to rub up their Memories of their past. 1827Scott Diary in Lockhart (1839) IX. 126 We rubbed up some recollections of twenty years ago. 1840Hood Up Rhine 7 We rubbed up our old stories and old songs.
b. To refresh (one's memory, etc.); to make clearer or stronger.
1643Lightfoot Glean. Ex. (1648) 11 Moses..rubbeth up his faith againe. 1663S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. 314 To rub up my memory and to fasten those things in my mind which hung loose before. 1778F. Burney Diary 26 Aug., There can be no better house for rubbing up the memory. 1815Scott Guy M. xxxix, An East Indian must rub up his faculties a little..before he enters this sort of society. 1818Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 126, I..have begun a course of history, ancient and modern, to rub up my memory before I touch on classic ground.
c. To brush up, revive or renew one's knowledge of (a subject).
1775Sheridan Rivals iii. iv, I must rub up my balancing, and chasing, and boring. 1799H. More Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 232 Some profession, which should oblige him, as we say, to rub up his Greek and Latin. 1813Macaulay in Trevelyan Life (1880) I. 45, I shall have..to rub up my Mathematics. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xiii, On the whole, I must rub up my history somehow. 1884Rider Haggard Dawn xx, I shall be glad of the opportunity of rubbing up my classics a little.
absol.1863J. Coldstream in Balfour Biogr. (1865) v. 190, I was far behind and very much needed to ‘rub up’.
d. To mix or prepare by rubbing.
1697W. Dampier Voy. (1699) 2 We..rubb'd up 20 or 30 pound of Chocolate, with Sugar to sweeten it. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Med. xi. 127 The camphor should be previously triturated..and the whole must be rubbed up into the form of an emulsion. 1873E. Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. i. 3/1 No ink should be used except indian ink, rubbed up fresh every day upon a clean palette.
e. With the wrong way: (cf. 3 a). Also ellipt. without phr.
1862H. Aïdé Carr of Carrlyon III. 55 Don't rub her prejudices up the wrong way,..if you can help it. 1882E. W. Hamilton Diary 31 Aug. (1972) I. 328 Lord Dufferin is half inclined to advise that we should concede this to them in order not to rub up the Sultan more than we can help. 1897Catholic Mag. Sept. 169, I did not answer, for I felt completely rubbed up the wrong way. 1971Weekend World (Johannesburg) 9 May 6/7 Judges, magistrates, prosecutors, defence lawyers treat everybody alike, but the minor officials sure know how to rub up a non-White.
f. To caress (a person) in order to excite him or her sexually. slang.
1656R. Fletcher tr. Martial's Epigrams ii. 102 Me thinks I scarcely am wound up by thee..to the height of Venerie... Thus Phillis rub me up, thus tickle mee. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 710/2 Rub up,..so to caress a person that he or she becomes actively amorous. 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake (1964) i. 203 Rubbing her up and smoothing her down, he baised his lippes in smiling mood.
g. To make clean, clear, or bright (again) by rubbing.
1847C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. viii. 183 My first aim will be..to clean down Moor House..; my next to rub it up with bees-wax, oil, and..cloths, till it glitters again. 1859Mrs. Stowe Minister's Wooing xviii. 179 He rubbed up his optical instruments to see whether they were rising in right order. 1886F. R. Stockton Casting away of Mrs. Lecks & Mrs. Aleshine iii. 111 In the mornin' I'll rub up that floor till it's as bright as new. 1974A. Ross Bradford Business 76 Even the short heavy bolts had been rubbed up with a wire brush.
III. intr.
14. a. To exert or employ friction accompanied by pressure; to move and at the same time press upon or against something.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 8198 When þey hadde longe to-gyder smyten, Spatled, spouted,..rubbed, & brent. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. x. 81 To karde and to kembe..To rubbe and to rely. c1460Stans Puer ad Mensam 14 Byfore thy souerayne cracche ne rubbe nought. 1580Blundevil Horsemanship Xviij, If you see that..he [sc. a horse] leaue not rubbing, then marke in what place he rubbeth. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 23 If boughs or armes touch and rub,..they make great galls. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 320 Where the fish lye so thick, the ship brushes, and rubbes upon them as 'twere sayling through a shelf of sand. 1687Dryden Hind & P. iii. 132 This last allusion galled the Panther more, Because indeed it rubbed upon the sore. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 189 The left side of the sock rubs upon the firm land. 1830R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 239 The fibro-cartilages which are met with wherever a tendon rubs against a bone. 1840Lardner Geom. 189 As the surface of the cylinder is prevented from rubbing or slipping on the surface on which it rests.
fig.1887O. W. Holmes Hundred Days Eur. v. 191 It always rubbed very hard on my feelings.
b. Of a bowl: To encounter some impediment which retards or diverts its course.
1588Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 39 When Iohn of London throwes his bowle, he will runne after it, and crie rub, rub, rub. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. ii. 52 So, so, rub on, and kisse the mistresse. 1611Cotgr., Saulter,..to rub (at Bowles). a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rub-rub, us'd on Greens when the Bowl Flees too fast, to have it forbear, if Words wou'd do it. 1770J. Love Cricket 5 Where, much divided between Fear and Glee, The Youth cries Rub; O Flee, you Ling'rer, Flee! 1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports (ed. 12) 684 Every bowl which shall rub or set after it has run two yards past the parallel [etc.].
fig.1609Ev. Woman in Hum. ii. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, They rub at everie mole-hil.
†c. fig. To touch upon a thing or person closely or disadvantageously. Obs.
1628Layton Sion's Plea agst. Prelacy (ed. 2) 27 This learning is not to be rub'd upon to boldly. 1637–50Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 165 No more nor the miscariages of a man byassed can rub justlie upon an honest man walking straightlie.
d. to rub up: to masturbate. slang.
1937Partridge Dict. Slang 710/2 Rub up, the v. corresponding to rub off, 2 [sc. a masturbation]. 1963C. Mackenzie My Life & Times II. 115 Just as I was going down the steps into our area B― asked me if I ever rubbed up... In bed that night I tried the experiment recommended by B―.
e. to rub off, of qualities, etc.: to have influence on through close or continued contact; to be transmitted to others.
1959N. Mailer Advts. for Myself v. 463 He spent years hobnobbing with gentlemanly shits and half-ass operators and some of it had to rub off on him. 1965Listener 11 Nov. 761/1 There is no evidence that anything of Sickert's powerful teaching rubbed off on him. 1969‘G. North’ Procrastination of Sgt. Cluff v. 44 How long was it since he'd begun to work with the Sergeant? How much of the Sergeant had rubbed off on him? Could he think any more except as the Sergeant thought? 1971Times 9 Sept. 3/2 One hopes that something of their Christian charity and principles would rub off. 1976E. Maclaren Nature of Belief ii. 16 Jews come in contact with Zoroastrians and certain ideas rub off. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 185/1 Morale was lower, there was apathy and this was rubbing off on new entries.
15. fig. To continue in a certain course with more or less difficulty or restraint; to contrive, or make shift, to get on, through, along, live or last out, pass or go off, etc.
(a)1469Paston Lett. II. 392, I wyle rubbe on as long as I maye..tyll better pese be. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Passer, He hath goods enow to rub on, or to serue his turne, with. 1679V. Alsop Melius Inq. ii. ix. 381 Whosoever shall teach us the Art to rub on with a doubting Conscience has paved a broad Causey for..his Holiness. 1704F. Fuller Med. Gymn. (1711) 241 Most People are supinely content..to rub on in a Sickly Condition. 1776Foote Capuchin i. Wks. 1799 II. 389 We be contented, Sir Harry, to rub on in our rust. 1846J. G. Lockhart 16 Dec. in Croker Papers (1884), [They] thought Government would rub on with this Parliament till August. 1880M. E. Braddon Just as I am xvii, I hope we shall always manage to rub on somehow.
(b)1570Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 1892/1 He thus in great care and vexation endured.., rubbyng out as well as hee could. 1587Robt. Morton Let. 17 June in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 139 He is nott able to live havynge made harde shifte heare to rubbe owt this deare tyme. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. iv. 429 Let vs proue Cony⁓catchers, Baudes, or any thing, so we may rub out. 1616Hieron Wks. I. 586 A man makes a shift to rub out an houre, and to haue somewhat stil to say. 1670–98R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 7 A poor widow of Rome..rub'd out poorly, but yet honestly.
(c)1680V. Alsop Mischief Imposit. 103 Thus have I at length rub'd through the Reverend Authors Discourse. 1683Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 16 There is not any one Country whose inhabitants..rub through the world with more ease and quiet. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 55 Having liv'd in various Regions, and rubb'd through many Callings. 1780Hamilton Wks. (1886) VIII. 6 We are entered deeply in a contest on which our all depends. We must endeavor to rub through it. 1815Earl of Dudley Let. 17 Jan. (1840) 85 Winter..he rubs through as well as he can by the help of patience and a cloak. 1849M. Arnold Resignation 138 They rubb'd through yesterday In their hereditary way; And they will rub through, if they can, To-morrow on the self-same plan.
(d)1818W. Irving Life & Lett. (1864) I. 396, I feel confident that I shall be able to rub along with my present means of support. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour (1865) II. 555 It's got very bad now. I used to manage to rub along at first. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. xliv. 156 The reason..why the system..rubs along in the several States is, that the executive has little to do.
(e)1784F. Burney Diary 17 Jan., The evening rubbed on and rubbed off till it began to break up. 1818Scott 14 Jan. in Fam. Lett. (1894) II. xiv. 4 The book is very well liked here, and has rub'd off in great stile.
b. Without const. rare—1.
1706Estcourt Fair Example v. i, Merrily is the word, and let the World rub.
16. To go, run, make off. Now rare or Obs.
c1540C. Bansley Pryde of Women in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 238 Rubbe forthe, olde trottes, to the devyl worde. 1676Shadwell Virtuoso v, Who held my sword while I danc'd?.. A curse on him! he's rubb'd off with it. 1700T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. viii. Wks. 1709 III. 82 He made a Dive into my Pocket, but encountering a Disappointment, Rub'd off, cursing the Vaccuum. 1710Brit. Apollo No. 91. 2/2 Your..Club With ready Cash to Tavern rub. 1844W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scot. xxiii. (1855) 192 The curate..left æneas, and rubbed off in haste.
17. To bear rubbing; to admit of being rubbed (off, out, etc.).
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxiv. 389 When the Shank of a Letter has a proper Thickness, Founders say, It Rubs well. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 33/2 It is very soft, and will easily rub to pieces. 1765Compl. Maltster & Brewer 51 Every maltster knows, that when the chive will rub off in his hand, it has been dried enough. 1859Handbk. Turning 120 They [marks] will easily rub out. 1870Lowell Study Wind., Condesc. Foreigners, When the plating of Anglicism rubs off..we are liable to very unpleasing conjectures about the quality of the metal underneath. 1877Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 492 Dirt will rub off when it is dry.
18. In comb. with ns., as rub-board, (a) a board fitted with teeth, between which linen is drawn; also attrib.; (b) N. Amer., a wash-board; rub-iron (see quot. 1875); rub-rail, a rail to protect (a vehicle, etc.) against rubbing.
1780A. Young Tour Irel. I. 180 Thence into the *rub boards; if coarse cloth one rub sufficient. 1885Census Instruct. Index, Rubboard Man (Bleach Works). 1964Amer. Folk Music Occasional i. 28 Clifton Chenies is no doubt the best known of the so-called ‘Zydeco’ musicians. This music..usually features the accordion with drum or rub-board accompaniment. 1972Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 13 Feb. 22/2 Building furniture and washing clothes on a rub board in a small tub.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1998/2 *Rub-iron, a plate on a carriage or wagon-bed against which the fore-wheel rubs when turning short.
1961Webster, *Rub rail. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 550/2 Products: G-85 fifth wheel container and general purpose trailer with cushioned rub rails. 1980Reader's Digest Feb. 226/2 The car skidded..25 feet up the bridge, jumped a 5½-inch-high rub rail and hurtled..into the water.
▪ V. † rub, v.2 Obs.
Also 6 roub.
[var. of rob v. 6.]
intr. In certain card-games: To take all the cards of one suit.
a1597Groome-Porters Lawes at Mawe in Anc. Broadsides & Ball. (1867) 124 If you roub (not hauing the ace) you lose fower and al the vied cardes. 1607Heywood Wom. killed w. Kindn. Wks. 1874 II. 123 Anne. What's trumpes? Wend. Harts: Partner, I rub. 1611Cotgr., Piller,..to rub, or rob, at cards. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. vii. 386 Thus three aces chance often not to rub.
▪ VI. † rub, v.3 Cant. Obs.
[Of obscure origin.]
trans. To carry off (to prison).
1676Warn. Housekeepers 5 They rub us to the whitt. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rubs us to the Whit, sends us to Newgate. 1737Old Ballad (Farmer), Toure you well; hark you well, see Where they are rubb'd.
▪ VII. rub
obs. or Sc. form of rob v. |