rub

6 definitions • 20 examples

to press or be pressed against something with a circular or up-and-down repeated movement:

She yawned and rubbed her eyes sleepily.

rub at He rubbed at the stain on his trousers and made it worse.

rub something into something We rubbed some polish into the surface of the wood.

rub something in She gently rubbed the ointment in.

rub something with something First rub the baking tray well with butter.

[ + obj + adj ] Alice rubbed the blackboard clean for the teacher.

rub something up against something Your cat keeps on rubbing itself up against my leg.

rub something together She was rubbing her hands together at the thought of winning.

rub against The branches rubbed against each other in the wind.

The chair legs have rubbed holes in the carpet.

rub on My new shoes are rubbing on my toe and now I've got blisters.

rub off These marks will never rub off (= be cleaned off).

rub something off something Alice rubbed the sums off (= cleaned them off) the blackboard for the teacher.

the act of rubbing something:

give something a rub He gave her hair a good rub to dry it.

a mixture of spices that is rubbed into meat or other foods before they are cooked to give them more flavour:

Smear the rub over both sides of the chicken breast.

Try this spicy rub on chicken, pork, or fish.

the particular problem that makes a situation difficult or impossible:

there's the rub You can't get a job unless you have experience, but there's the rub, you can't get experience unless you have a job.

to press or be pressed against something with a repeated circular, side to side, or up and down movement:

[ T ] I rubbed the place where I bumped my head.

[ T ] If you rub linseed oil into the wood, it will protect it.

The rub is something that prevents success:

She got good reviews for her original cooking, but the rub was that people wanted very traditional dishes.