See rub up on Wiktionary
Download JSON data for rub up meaning in All languages combined (8.4kB)
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "rubs up",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "rubbing up",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "rubbed up",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "rubbed up",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "rub up (third-person singular simple present rubs up, present participle rubbing up, simple past and past participle rubbed up)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I rubbed up the brass buttons on my jacket to make them shine.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "The pitcher rubs up the new baseball with dirt to get a better grip.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1695, William Salmon, The Family Dictionary, London: H. Rhodes",
"text": "Stains that come not by Grease are taken out by boiling Lemon-peel in Small-beer, with a little Copperas, till it be very strong of them: then with a hard Brush rub up the place with it,",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1786, John O’Keeffe, Patrick in Russia, Dublin, act I, page 11",
"text": "Here’s a new guest for you; so clean up your house, rub up the mohogany table […]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1909, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 30, in Anne of Avonlea, Boston: L.C. Page, page 360",
"text": "[…] there’s all the silver to be rubbed up yet . . .",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To polish or scrub; to cover (something with a substance) by rubbing."
],
"id": "en-rub_up-en-verb-pznPlRph",
"links": [
[
"polish",
"polish"
],
[
"scrub",
"scrub"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive) To polish or scrub; to cover (something with a substance) by rubbing."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1674, Hannah Woolley, A Supplement to The Queen-like Closet, London: Richard Lownds, page 9",
"text": "[…] every Morning when you Comb your head, dip a sponge in this water and rub up your Hair, and it will keep it clean and preserve it,",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1929, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 9, in Red Harvest, New York: Knopf",
"text": "Bush’s handlers dragged him into his corner [of the boxing ring] and rubbed him up, not working very hard at it.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To rub (a body part): to massage, give a massage to."
],
"id": "en-rub_up-en-verb-X~KsEHx5",
"links": [
[
"massage",
"massage"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive) To rub (a body part): to massage, give a massage to."
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "16 58 12 4 2 4 2",
"word": "rub down"
},
{
"_dis1": "16 58 12 4 2 4 2",
"word": "rub up against"
},
{
"_dis1": "16 58 12 4 2 4 2",
"word": "rub up on"
},
{
"_dis1": "16 58 12 4 2 4 2",
"word": "rub up the wrong way"
}
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "to rub up a lather",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "The new shoe rubbed up a blister on the back of his foot.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To create (something) by rubbing."
],
"id": "en-rub_up-en-verb-KfPiWQBH",
"links": [
[
"create",
"create"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive) To create (something) by rubbing."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1775, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals, London: John Wilkie, act III, scene 5, page 54",
"text": "I must rub up my balancing, and chasing, and boring.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1920, Katherine Mansfield, “The Little Governess”, in Bliss and Other Stories, Toronto: Macmillan, page 239",
"text": "[…] you will have a nice quiet day to rest after the journey and rub up your German.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1951, Nicholas Monsarrat, The Cruel Sea, New York: Knopf, Part 5, p. 364",
"text": "‘[…] you’ll have to rub up on the other sort of navigation now. How long is it since you used a sextant?’",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To revive one's knowledge of (something); to renew (a skill)."
],
"id": "en-rub_up-en-verb-wrtQVBFB",
"links": [
[
"transitive",
"transitive"
],
[
"intransitive",
"intransitive"
],
[
"revive",
"revive"
],
[
"knowledge",
"knowledge"
],
[
"renew",
"renew"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, intransitive, informal, dated) To revive one's knowledge of (something); to renew (a skill)."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "bone up"
},
{
"word": "brush up"
},
{
"word": "review"
},
{
"word": "revise"
}
],
"tags": [
"dated",
"informal",
"intransitive",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1952, Chester Himes, chapter 11, in Cast the First Stone,, New York: Signet, page 107",
"text": "There was a lot of yelling and gesticulating, and a few blows were passed. A couple of guards got rubbed up a little.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To assault (someone)."
],
"id": "en-rub_up-en-verb-6ro4b83M",
"links": [
[
"assault",
"assault"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, US, slang) To assault (someone)."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "rough up"
}
],
"tags": [
"US",
"slang",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "5 8 11 10 7 10 46 3",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "9 11 12 9 10 12 31 6",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (up)",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "to rub up pigments with water or oil",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, London: James Knapton, “The Travels of Mr. William Dampier,” Chapter 3, p. 60,\nthose Europeans, that use their Chocolate ready rubb’d up"
},
{
"ref": "1843, J. Hewlett, chapter 23, in College Life; or, The Proctor’s Notebook,, volume 1, London: Henry Colburn, page 253",
"text": "[The bursar] poured out a glass of sherry into a tumbler, and rubbed it up with an egg and a little sugar.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1943, Charles Wortham Brook, Carlile and the Surgeons, Glasgow: Strickland Press, page 23",
"text": "[Crude mercury] may be concealed in a pill by rubbing it up with anything of which you can make a paste fit for pills;",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To reduce (something) to a powder or paste using friction (with a mortar and pestle, for example); to mix (with something) using friction."
],
"id": "en-rub_up-en-verb-~iVGLYmy",
"links": [
[
"reduce",
"reduce"
],
[
"powder",
"powder"
],
[
"paste",
"paste"
],
[
"friction",
"friction"
],
[
"mortar",
"mortar"
],
[
"pestle",
"pestle"
],
[
"mix",
"mix"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, obsolete) To reduce (something) to a powder or paste using friction (with a mortar and pestle, for example); to mix (with something) using friction."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "to rub up the memory; to rub up old sores",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1640, James Ussher, Eighteen Sermons Preached in Oxford, London, published 1660, page 128",
"text": "They desire a dead Minister, that would not rub up their consciences,",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1681, Thomas Manton, One Hundred and Ninety Sermons on the Hundred and Nineteenth Psalm, London: T.P., Sermon 102, p. 629",
"text": "It’s a vexation to them when they would sleep securely, to have their consciences rubbing up and reviving their fears.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1702, Susanna Centlivre, The Beau’s Duel, London: D. Brown and N. Cox, act III, page 30",
"text": "Sir Will. What do you mean Gentlemen?\nEmil. Only to rub up you[r] Courage a little.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1790, Tate Wilkinson, Memoirs of His Own Life, volume 2, York, page 134",
"text": "[…] lest I should be negligent, Mr. Garrick sent for me to rub up my attention, fearing I might like a lazy centinel sleep on my post:",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To excite or awaken (something); to revive or reawaken (something)."
],
"id": "en-rub_up-en-verb-PQSpAf21",
"links": [
[
"excite",
"excite"
],
[
"awaken",
"awaken"
],
[
"revive",
"revive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, obsolete) To excite or awaken (something); to revive or reawaken (something)."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete",
"transitive"
]
}
],
"word": "rub up"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "rub ups",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "rub up (plural rub ups)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"word": "rub-up"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative form of rub-up"
],
"id": "en-rub_up-en-noun-ti5-Evo7",
"links": [
[
"rub-up",
"rub-up#English"
]
],
"tags": [
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],
"word": "rub up"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English phrasal verbs",
"English phrasal verbs with particle (up)",
"English verbs"
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "rubs up",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "rubbing up",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "rubbed up",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "rubbed up",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "rub up (third-person singular simple present rubs up, present participle rubbing up, simple past and past participle rubbed up)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "rub down"
},
{
"word": "rub up against"
},
{
"word": "rub up on"
},
{
"word": "rub up the wrong way"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"English transitive verbs",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "I rubbed up the brass buttons on my jacket to make them shine.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "The pitcher rubs up the new baseball with dirt to get a better grip.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1695, William Salmon, The Family Dictionary, London: H. Rhodes",
"text": "Stains that come not by Grease are taken out by boiling Lemon-peel in Small-beer, with a little Copperas, till it be very strong of them: then with a hard Brush rub up the place with it,",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1786, John O’Keeffe, Patrick in Russia, Dublin, act I, page 11",
"text": "Here’s a new guest for you; so clean up your house, rub up the mohogany table […]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1909, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 30, in Anne of Avonlea, Boston: L.C. Page, page 360",
"text": "[…] there’s all the silver to be rubbed up yet . . .",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To polish or scrub; to cover (something with a substance) by rubbing."
],
"links": [
[
"polish",
"polish"
],
[
"scrub",
"scrub"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive) To polish or scrub; to cover (something with a substance) by rubbing."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1674, Hannah Woolley, A Supplement to The Queen-like Closet, London: Richard Lownds, page 9",
"text": "[…] every Morning when you Comb your head, dip a sponge in this water and rub up your Hair, and it will keep it clean and preserve it,",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1929, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 9, in Red Harvest, New York: Knopf",
"text": "Bush’s handlers dragged him into his corner [of the boxing ring] and rubbed him up, not working very hard at it.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To rub (a body part): to massage, give a massage to."
],
"links": [
[
"massage",
"massage"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive) To rub (a body part): to massage, give a massage to."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with usage examples",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "to rub up a lather",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "The new shoe rubbed up a blister on the back of his foot.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To create (something) by rubbing."
],
"links": [
[
"create",
"create"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive) To create (something) by rubbing."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English dated terms",
"English informal terms",
"English intransitive verbs",
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1775, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals, London: John Wilkie, act III, scene 5, page 54",
"text": "I must rub up my balancing, and chasing, and boring.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1920, Katherine Mansfield, “The Little Governess”, in Bliss and Other Stories, Toronto: Macmillan, page 239",
"text": "[…] you will have a nice quiet day to rest after the journey and rub up your German.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1951, Nicholas Monsarrat, The Cruel Sea, New York: Knopf, Part 5, p. 364",
"text": "‘[…] you’ll have to rub up on the other sort of navigation now. How long is it since you used a sextant?’",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To revive one's knowledge of (something); to renew (a skill)."
],
"links": [
[
"transitive",
"transitive"
],
[
"intransitive",
"intransitive"
],
[
"revive",
"revive"
],
[
"knowledge",
"knowledge"
],
[
"renew",
"renew"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, intransitive, informal, dated) To revive one's knowledge of (something); to renew (a skill)."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "bone up"
},
{
"word": "brush up"
},
{
"word": "review"
},
{
"word": "revise"
}
],
"tags": [
"dated",
"informal",
"intransitive",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1952, Chester Himes, chapter 11, in Cast the First Stone,, New York: Signet, page 107",
"text": "There was a lot of yelling and gesticulating, and a few blows were passed. A couple of guards got rubbed up a little.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To assault (someone)."
],
"links": [
[
"assault",
"assault"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, US, slang) To assault (someone)."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "rough up"
}
],
"tags": [
"US",
"slang",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with obsolete senses",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "to rub up pigments with water or oil",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, London: James Knapton, “The Travels of Mr. William Dampier,” Chapter 3, p. 60,\nthose Europeans, that use their Chocolate ready rubb’d up"
},
{
"ref": "1843, J. Hewlett, chapter 23, in College Life; or, The Proctor’s Notebook,, volume 1, London: Henry Colburn, page 253",
"text": "[The bursar] poured out a glass of sherry into a tumbler, and rubbed it up with an egg and a little sugar.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1943, Charles Wortham Brook, Carlile and the Surgeons, Glasgow: Strickland Press, page 23",
"text": "[Crude mercury] may be concealed in a pill by rubbing it up with anything of which you can make a paste fit for pills;",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To reduce (something) to a powder or paste using friction (with a mortar and pestle, for example); to mix (with something) using friction."
],
"links": [
[
"reduce",
"reduce"
],
[
"powder",
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],
[
"paste",
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],
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"friction",
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],
[
"mortar",
"mortar"
],
[
"pestle",
"pestle"
],
[
"mix",
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]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, obsolete) To reduce (something) to a powder or paste using friction (with a mortar and pestle, for example); to mix (with something) using friction."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete",
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with obsolete senses",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"English transitive verbs",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "to rub up the memory; to rub up old sores",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1640, James Ussher, Eighteen Sermons Preached in Oxford, London, published 1660, page 128",
"text": "They desire a dead Minister, that would not rub up their consciences,",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1681, Thomas Manton, One Hundred and Ninety Sermons on the Hundred and Nineteenth Psalm, London: T.P., Sermon 102, p. 629",
"text": "It’s a vexation to them when they would sleep securely, to have their consciences rubbing up and reviving their fears.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1702, Susanna Centlivre, The Beau’s Duel, London: D. Brown and N. Cox, act III, page 30",
"text": "Sir Will. What do you mean Gentlemen?\nEmil. Only to rub up you[r] Courage a little.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1790, Tate Wilkinson, Memoirs of His Own Life, volume 2, York, page 134",
"text": "[…] lest I should be negligent, Mr. Garrick sent for me to rub up my attention, fearing I might like a lazy centinel sleep on my post:",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To excite or awaken (something); to revive or reawaken (something)."
],
"links": [
[
"excite",
"excite"
],
[
"awaken",
"awaken"
],
[
"revive",
"revive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, obsolete) To excite or awaken (something); to revive or reawaken (something)."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete",
"transitive"
]
}
],
"word": "rub up"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English phrasal verbs",
"English phrasal verbs with particle (up)",
"English verbs"
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "rub ups",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "rub up (plural rub ups)",
"name": "en-noun"
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"word": "rub-up"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative form of rub-up"
],
"links": [
[
"rub-up",
"rub-up#English"
]
],
"tags": [
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"word": "rub up"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-06-04 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (e9e0a99 and db5a844). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.