Find the word definition

Crossword clues for rubbing

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
rubbing
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
rubbing alcohol
rubbing...hands with glee
▪ Manufacturers are rubbing their hands with glee as they prepare to cash in.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
brass
▪ He began to make a collection of brass rubbings.
▪ The old dining-room is now a brass rubbing centre and the drawing-room is used for meetings and lectures.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be rubbing your hands
▪ And ace marksman Aldo is rubbing his hands in glee at the prospect.
▪ Battle is joined and lawyers are rubbing their hands in anticipation.
▪ Frankie was rubbing his hands together and Chopper merely nodded now and then with a silly expression on his face.
▪ Good quality barley is making £151 a tonne so, not unnaturally, both farmers and merchants are rubbing their hands.
▪ He was rubbing your hands to warm you up.
▪ Players' agents and satellite salesmen will be rubbing their hands with glee.
▪ The doctor was rubbing her hands, probably to warm them, but it looked like a gesture of glee and greed.
▪ Thousands of people will be rubbing their hands with glee.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a brass rubbing
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ At last, rubbing his eyes, Amphitryon sat up again.
▪ Because of the amount of hard rubbing needed to achieve a good finish, oil polishing is best confined to plain surfaces.
▪ Byzantine Follis I enclose wax impressions and a rubbing of what I think to be a coin.
▪ I found it difficult to take a rubbing so, despite my lack of artistic ability, I've drawn a sketch.
▪ It was magnificent and would come up a treat with a rubbing of linseed oil.
▪ The wound had become infected by the constant rubbing of a heavy load.
▪ These are two photos and a rubbing.
▪ These brought in the cash, but had to be meticulously types with no rubbing out, or so they said.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rubbing

Rub \Rub\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rubbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Rubbing.] [Probably of Celtic origin; cf. W. rhwbiaw, gael. rub.]

  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 over the surface of (a body) with pressure and friction; to graze; to chafe; as, the boat rubs the ground.

  3. 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.

  4. To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.

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

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

    1. To clean by rubbing; to comb or curry; as, to down a horse.

    2. 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.

      1. To burnish; to polish; to clean.

      2. To excite; to awaken; to rouse to action; as, to rub up the memory.

Rubbing

Rubbing \Rub"bing\, a. & n. from Rub, v.

Wiktionary
rubbing

n. An impression of an embossed or incised surface made by placing a piece of paper over it and rubbing with graphite, crayon or other coloring agent. vb. (present participle of rub English)

WordNet
rubbing
  1. n. the resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another [syn: friction]

  2. representation consisting of a copy (as of an engraving) made by laying paper over something and rubbing it with charcoal

  3. effort expended in rubbing one object against another [syn: friction, detrition]

rub
  1. n. an unforeseen obstacle [syn: hang-up, hitch, snag]

  2. the act of rubbing or wiping; "he gave the hood a quick rub" [syn: wipe]

  3. [also: rubbing, rubbed]

rub
  1. v. move over something with pressure; "rub my hands"; "rub oil into her skin"

  2. cause friction; "my sweater scratches" [syn: fray, fret, chafe, scratch]

  3. scrape or rub as if to relieve itching; "Don't scratch your insect bites!" [syn: scratch, itch]

  4. [also: rubbing, rubbed]

rubbing

See rub

Wikipedia
Rubbing

A rubbing is a reproduction of the texture of a surface created by placing a piece of paper or similar material over the subject and then rubbing the paper with something to deposit marks, most commonly charcoal or pencil, but also various forms of blotted and rolled ink, chalk, wax, and many other substances. For all its simplicity, the technique can be used to produce blur-free images of minuscule elevations and depressions on areas of any size in a way that can hardly be matched by even the most elaborate, state-of-the-art methods. In this way, surface elevations measuring only a few thousandths of a millimeter can be made visible.

Common uses for this technique include:

  • Brass rubbing, to make copies of monumental brasses
  • Forensic uses, including finding out what was written on a sheet of paper removed from a pad by rubbing the impressions left on subsequent sheets or other backing materials
  • Frottage, a surrealist art form
  • Stone rubbing, to make copies of patterns and inscriptions of gravestones or other incised or textured stone surfaces

Usage examples of "rubbing".

The beshti set to bawling and rumbling, rubbing necks and heads and snuffing familiar scents, as happy as the rest of them, weary as the creatures were, and deserving of rest.

The act of eating, however, with all its gustatory noises, the stinking belch that filled the cavern, the rubbing of the behemothian stomach-all this, all at once, horrifying and sickening both.

Then she jumped in fright as Tagwen stood up suddenly next to her, rubbing at his bleary eyes.

Behind him Booce was speaking mostly to Debby, who was rubbing his temples.

Legion General Bill Booly followed the corridor that circled the outer edge of the wheel-shaped space station, he found himself rubbing shoulders with all manner of fellow beings, including brightly feathered Prithians, hulking Hudathans, work-worn androids, exoskeleton-clad Dwellers, cybernetic humans, and more.

He advises rubbing the tumour with these vesicles bruised in the hand, and afterwards washing the part with sea water.

I suspected this behavior was the buzzardly equivalent of a cat rubbing itself against your ankle when it hears the can opener.

After a few more minutes of unsuccessfully trying not to think of what lay in store for a celibate nun in a meat show, I trudged over to the Man of Many Colors, who was lying very still on one of the cots, while the Human Lizard and the India Rubber Man took turns rubbing his wrists vigorously and mopping sweat from his forehead.

My breathing hitched as I hauled her close, rubbing her cushiony belly against my stiff erection.

I turned to the custode, who stood smiling and rubbing his chin in my doorway.

He was holding his helmet in his hands, rubbing his fingers along the panther decal affixed to the side.

Once you snag some fleas in the comb, dip them in a glass of water mixed with rubbing alcohol or detergent and watch the routed buggers sink to the bottom.

He shoved in close to the fire, butting aside Dorche and Miquit, rubbing his hands briskly and holding them over the flames.

Lord Trevor, an apron around his waist, sleeves rolled up, rubbing polish on an epergne that was breathtaking in its ugliness.

But Ern was still staring at the picture on the wall, absent-mindedly rubbing at the paint that the artist had streaked across his face.