verb / noun

rub

RUB/rʌb/

Friction produced by movement against a surface.

The cloth rubs against the tabletop as the woman moves it back and forth.

A young adult Black woman rubs a plain cloth back and forth across a small wooden tabletop, with the cloth pressed flat beneath her hand.

Etymology

Rub already meant applying friction to a surface or massaging in its earliest recorded English use. Its deeper origin is uncertain, so no secure root explains the action further.

In context

Martha Stewart2:53

let's get ready to rub the meat we could have actually gotten a recipe done yes we will this will be so now you rub it in rub it in both sides both sides

Robin Williams & Martha Stewart Can't Stop Laughing While Cooking Tacos

More examples

Rubbing your palms together helps warm them.
My new shoes rubbed against my heels all day.
Give the table a quick rub with a soft cloth.

Forms

rub · rubs · rubbed · rubbing

Similar words

scrub: Scrub means rubbing hard, usually to remove stubborn dirt.
wipe: Wipe emphasizes moving something across a surface to remove material.
massage: Massage means rubbing or pressing the body to relieve tension.