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Rub vs Rug - What's the difference?

rub | rug |

In lang=en terms the difference between rub and rug

is that rub is to move or pass with difficulty while rug is a wig; a hairpiece.

As nouns the difference between rub and rug

is that rub is an act of rubbing while rug is a partial covering for a floor.

As verbs the difference between rub and rug

is that rub is to move (one object) while maintaining contact with another object over some area, with pressure and friction while rug is to pull roughly or hastily; to plunder; to spoil; to tear.

rub

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • An act of rubbing.
  • Give that lamp a good rub and see if any genies come out
  • A difficulty or problem.
  • Therein lies the rub .
  • * III.i.71-75
  • To die, to sleep—/To sleep—perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub !/For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,/When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,/Must give us pause
  • * , Episode 16
  • ...the propriety of the cabman's shelter, as it was called, hardly a stonesthrow away near Butt bridge where they might hit upon some drinkables in the shape of a milk and soda or a mineral. But how to get there was the rub .
  • In the game of crown green bowls: any obstacle by which a bowl is diverted from its normal course.
  • A mixture of spices applied to meat before it is barbecued.
  • Verb

  • To move (one object) while maintaining contact with another object over some area, with pressure and friction.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] This is Mr. Churchill, who, as you are aware, is good enough to come to us for his diaconate, and, as we hope, for much longer; and being a gentleman of independent means, he declines to take any payment.” Saying this Walden rubbed his hands together and smiled contentedly.}}
  • To rub something against (a second thing).
  • * Sir T. Elyot
  • It shall be expedient, after that body is cleaned, to rub the body with a coarse linen cloth.
  • To be rubbed against something.
  • To spread a substance thinly over; to smear.
  • meat rubbed with spices before barbecuing
  • * Milton
  • The smoothed plank, / New rubbed with balm.
  • (dated) To move or pass with difficulty.
  • To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up'' or ''over .
  • to rub up silver
  • * South
  • The whole business of our redemption is to rub over the defaced copy of the creation.
  • To hinder; to cross; to thwart.
  • * Shakespeare
  • 'Tis the duke's pleasure, / Whose disposition, all the world well knows, / Will not be rubbed nor stopped.

    Derived terms

    * rubber * rubbing * rub elbows * rub in * rub it in * rub out * rub off * rub shoulders * rub up * rub up on

    Anagrams

    * ----

    rug

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A partial covering for a floor.
  • (UK, Australia) A (usually thick) piece of fabric used for warmth (especially on a bed); a blanket.
  • * 1855 , , A Boy?s Adventures in the Wilds of Australia: or, Herbert?s Note-Book , page 254,
  • They then cut down a quantity of gum-tree leaves for a bed, and threw their rugs upon them ready for bed-time.
  • * 1906 July 27, Government Gazette of Western Australia , page 2297,
  • Furnish every sleeping apartment with a sufficient number of toilet utensils and bedsteads, and sufficient bedding so that each bed shall be provided with a mattress, two sheets, a rug', and, in winter time, not less than one additional ' rug .
  • * 1950 April, Dental Journal of Australia , Volume 22, page 181,
  • My own son had a bunny rug' of which he was very fond and on being put to bed he would always demand his “bunny ' rug to suck his finger with.?
  • * 1997 , Alan Sharpe, Vivien Encel, Murder!: 25 True Australian Crimes , page 22,
  • He brought with him a rug and a sheet, and lay down by the fire.
  • A kind of coarse, heavy frieze, formerly used for clothing.
  • * Holinshed
  • They spin the choicest rug' in Ireland. A friend of mine repaired to Paris Garden clad in one of these Waterford ' rugs .
  • A rough, woolly, or shaggy dog.
  • (slang) A wig; a hairpiece.
  • Usage notes

    * (partial floor covering) The terms rug'' and carpet are not precise synonyms: a ''rug'' covers part of the floor; a ''carpet'' covers most or a large area of the floor; a ''fitted carpet runs wall-to-wall.

    Synonyms

    * (small carpet) carpet, mat * (wig) toupee, wig

    Derived terms

    * area rug * cut a rug * scatter rug * snug as a bug in a rug

    Verb

    (rugg)
  • (Scotland) To pull roughly or hastily; to plunder; to spoil; to tear.
  • (Sir Walter Scott)

    Derived terms

    * rug up (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----