rubverb [ I or T ]
uk/rʌb/us/rʌb/-bb-B2 to press or be pressed against something with a circular or up-and-down repeated movement:
She yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily.
He rubbed (at) the stain on his trousers and made it worse.
We rubbed some polish into the surface of the wood.
She gently rubbed the ointment in.
First rub the baking tray well with butter.
[ + obj + adj ] Alice rubbed the blackboard clean for the teacher.
Your cat keeps on rubbing itself (up) against my leg.
She was rubbing her hands (together) at the thought of winning.
The branches rubbed against each other in the wind.
The chair legs have rubbed holes in the carpet.
My new shoes are rubbing (against/on my toe) and now I've got blisters.
These marks will never rub off (= be cleaned off).
Alice rubbed the sums off (= cleaned them off) the blackboard for the teacher.
More examples
- She rubbed sun lotion over her entire body.
- With the back of his hand, he rubbed the stubble on his chin.
- He rubbed his hand despairingly over his face.
- The strap had rubbed against his skin and caused irritation.
- The shoe had rubbed a raw place on her heel.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Scratching and rubbing
- abrade
- abrasion
- chafe
- erode
- grate
- graze
- grind
- rasp
- rub sth/sb down
- rubdown
- scour
- scour sth out
- scrape
- scratch
- scuff
- smooth
- tickle
- wear
- wear (sth) away
See more results »
Idiom(s)
rub sb's nose in it
rub salt in/into the wound
rub shoulders (with)
rub sb up the wrong way
Phrasal verb(s)
rub along
rub sth down
rub sth/sb down
rub sth in
rub off
rub sth out
rub sb out
rubnoun [ C ]
uk/rʌb/us/rʌb/the act of rubbing something:
He gave her hair a good rub to dry it.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Scratching and rubbing
- abrade
- abrasion
- chafe
- erode
- grate
- graze
- grind
- rasp
- rub sth/sb down
- rubdown
- scour
- scour sth out
- scrape
- scratch
- scuff
- smooth
- tickle
- wear
- wear (sth) away
See more results »
Idiom(s)
the rub