rub

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. [ORIGIN: from Shakespeare's Hamlet (_III. i. 65).]

● rub along — Cf. ↑rub along

● the rub of the green — Cf. ↑the rub of the green

● rub one's hands — Cf. ↑rub one's hands

● rub it in (or rub someone's nose in something) — Cf. ↑rub someone's nose in something

● rub noses — Cf. ↑rub noses

● rub off — Cf. ↑rub off

● rub out — Cf. ↑rub out

● rub shoulders (or N. Amer. elbows) — Cf. ↑rub shoulders

● rub (up) the wrong way — Cf. ↑rub up the wrong way

ORIGIN perhaps from Low German rubben, of unknown ultimate origin.