rub up

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

rub up

verb rubs up · rubbing up · rubbed up

transitive To polish or scrub; to cover (something with a substance) by rubbing. I rubbed up the brass buttons on my jacket to make them shine.
transitive To rub (a body part): to massage, give a massage to. […] 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,
intransitive, transitive, with on To rub on someone or something. The cat rubbed up on my legs.
transitive To create (something) by rubbing. to rub up a lather
ambitransitive, dated, informal To revive one's knowledge of (something); to renew (a skill). I muſt rub up my balancing, and chaſing, and boring.
Similar: bone up, brush up, review, revise
US, slang, transitive To assault (someone). There was a lot of yelling and gesticulating, and a few blows were passed. A couple of guards got rubbed up a little.
Similar: rough up
obsolete, transitive To reduce (something) to a powder or paste using friction (with a mortar and pestle, for example); to mix (with something) using friction. to rub up pigments with water or oil
obsolete, transitive To excite or awaken (something); to revive or reawaken (something). to rub up the memory; to rub up old sores

noun rub ups

alternative Alternative form of rub-up

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"rub up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rub%20up. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rub up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rub%20up

Chicago

"rub up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rub%20up.

BibTeX

@misc{rub_up_2026,
  title = {rub up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rub%20up},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}