Part 430

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. (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.

Rub, v. i. 1. To move along the surface of a body with pressure; to grate; as, a wheel rubs against the gatepost.

2. To fret; to chafe; as, to rub upon a sore.

3. 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.]

Rub, n. [Cf. W. rhwb. See Rub, v,t,] 1. The act of rubbing; friction.

2. 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.

3. Inequality of surface, as of the ground in the game of bowls; unevenness. Shak.

4. Something grating to the feelings; sarcasm; joke; as, a hard rub.

5. Imperfection; failing; fault. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

6. A chance. [Obs.]

Flight shall leave no Greek a rub.

Chapman.

7. 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.

Rub"a-dub (?), n. The sound of a drum when continuously beaten; hence, a clamorous, repeated sound; a clatter.