RUB, v.t. [L. probrum, exprobro; Gr. to rub. We have the elements of the word in scrape, scrub, L. scribo, Gr.]

1. The act of rubbing; friction.
2. That which renders motion or progress difficult; collision; hinderance; obstruction. Now every rub is smoothed in our way. Shak. Upon this rub the English ambassadors thought fit to demur. Hayward. All sort of rubs will be laid in the way. Davenant.
3. Inequality of ground that hinders the motion of a bowl. Shak.
4. Difficulty; cause of uneasiness; pinch. To sleep, perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub. Shak.
5. Sarcasm; joke; something grating to the feelings.

1. To move along the surface of a body with pressure; as, a wheel rubs against the gate-post.
2. To fret; to chafe; as, to rub upon a sore. Dryden.
3. To move or pass with difficulty; as, to rub through woods, as huntsmen; to rub through the world. Chapman. L'Estrange.

1. To move something along the surface of a body with pressure; as, to rub the face or arms with the hand; to rub the body with flannel. Vessels are scoured or cleaned by rubbing them.
2. To wipe; to clean; to scour; but rub is a generic term, applicable to friction for every purpose.
3. To touch so as to leave behind something which touches; to spread over; as, to rub any thing with oil.
4. To polish; to retouch; with over. The whole business of our redemption is to rub over the defaced copy of the creation. South.
5. To obstruct by collision. [Unusual.] Shak. In popular language, rub is used for teasing, fretting, upbraiding, reproaching or vexing with gibes or sarcasms. To rub down, to clean by rubbing; to comb or curry, as a horse. Dryden. To rub off, to clean any thing by rubbing; to separate by friction; as, to rub off rust. To rub out, to erase; to obliterate; as, to rub out marks or letters. #2. To remove or separate by friction; as, to rub out a stain. To rub upon, to touch hard. Sidney. To rub up, to burnish; to polish; to clean. #2. To excite; to awaken; to rouse to action; as, to rub up the memory.

1. To subject (a body) to the action of something moving over its surface with pressure and friction, especially to the action of something moving back and forth; as, to rub the flesh with the hand; to rub wood with sandpaper.
   
   

   It shall be expedient, after that body is cleaned, to rub the body with a coarse linen cloth. Sir T. Elyot.

2. To move along the surface of a body with pressure; to grate; as, a wheel rubs against the gatepost.
3. The act of rubbing; friction.
4. Quatrians; as, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Sometimes in pl. construed as sing., a poem in such stanzas.
5. To move over the surface of (a body) with pressure and friction; to graze; to chafe; as, the boat rubs the ground.
6. To fret; to chafe; as, to rub upon a sore.
7. That which rubs; that which tends to hinder or obstruct motion or progress; hindrance; obstruction, an impediment; especially, a difficulty or obstruction hard to overcome; a pinch.
   
   

   Every rub is smoothed on our way. Shak.

   To sleep, perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub. Shak.

   Upon this rub, the English ambassadors thought fit to demur. Hayward.

   One knows not, certainly, what other rubs might have been ordained for us by a wise Providence. W. Besant.

8. To cause (a body) to move with pressure and friction along a surface; as, to rub the hand over the body.
   
   

   Two bones rubbed hard against one another. Arbuthnot.

9. To move or pass with difficulty; as, to rub through woods, as huntsmen; to rub through the world.
   
   

   To rub along or on, to go on with difficulty; as, they manage, with strict economy, to rub along. [Colloq.]

10. Inequality of surface, as of the ground in the game of bowls; unevenness.
    
    
    Shak.
11. To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.
    
    

    The smoothed plank, . . .
    New rubbed with balm. Milton.

12. Something grating to the feelings; sarcasm; joke; as, a hard rub.
13. To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; -- often with up or over; as, to rub up silver.
    
    

    The whole business of our redemption is to rub over the defaced copy of the creation. South.

14. Imperfection; failing; fault.
    
    
    [Obs.] Beau. *** Fl.
15. To hinder; to cross; to thwart.
    
    
    [R.]

    'T is the duke's pleasure,
    Whose disposition, all the world well knows,
    Will not be rubbed nor stopped. Shak.

    To rub down. (a) To clean by rubbing; to comb or curry; as, to down a horse. (b) To reduce or remove by rubbing; as, to rub down the rough points. -- To rub off, to clean anything by rubbing; to separate by friction; as, to rub off rust. -- To rub out, to remove or separate by friction; to erase; to obliterate; as, to rub out a mark or letter; to rub out a stain. -- To rub up. (a) To burnish; to polish; to clean. (b) To excite; to awaken; to rouse to action; as, to rub up the memory.

16. A chance.
    
    
    [Obs.]

    Flight shall leave no Greek a rub. Chapman.

17. A stone, commonly flat, used to sharpen cutting tools] a whetstone; -- called also rubstone.
    
    

    Rub iron, an iron guard on a wagon body, against which a wheel rubs when cramped too much.