rub

noun

1. Any of a group of proteins similar to ubiquitin
2. Initialism of rich urban biker.

verb

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”)).

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

   “I rubbed the cloth over the glass.”

   “The cat rubbed itself against my leg.”

2. To be rubbed against something.

   “My shoes are beginning to rub.”

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

   “meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing”

   “The smoothed plank, […] / New rubbed with balm.”

4. To move or pass with difficulty.

   “to rub through woods, as huntsmen”

5. To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over.

   “to rub up silver”

   “The whole business of our redemption is, in short, only to rub over the defaced copy of the creation”

6. To hinder; to cross; to thwart.

   “'Tis the duke's pleasure, / Whose disposition, all the world well knows, / Will not be rubbed nor stopped.”

7. To touch the jack with the bowl.