rub

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of rubbing or wiping

   I gave the car a quick rub with wax.

2. 2
   verb

   move over something with pressure

   rub my hands

3. 3
   noun

   An act of rubbing.

   Give that lamp a good rub and see if any genies come out.

4. 4
   noun

   A difficulty or problem.

   To die, to sleep— / To sleep—perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub! / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause

5. 5
   noun

   Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing.

   a heat rub intended for muscular strains

6. 6
   verb

   To move (one object) while maintaining contact with another object over some area, with pressure and friction.

   I rubbed the cloth over the glass.

7. 7
   verb

   To be rubbed against something.

   My shoes are beginning to rub.

8. 8
   verb

   To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.

   meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English rubben, of unknown origin; possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną, related to *reufaną (“to tear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian rubje (“to rub, scrape”), German Low German rubben (“to rub”), Low German rubblig (“rough, uneven”), Dutch robben, rubben (“to rub smooth; scrape; scrub”), Danish rubbe (“to rub, scrub”), Icelandic and Norwegian rubba (“to scrape”). More at reave. Compare typologically Latin fricō < friō < Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (whence also Russian брить (britʹ, “to shave”)).