rub off

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rub off (on someone)

to be learned or obtained without any effort. I like to think that my love of reading will rub off on my children.

Usage notes: usually used of a skill, an interest, or a quality

See also: rub

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? References in classic literature
The brown scales, too, had evidently undergone rigid discipline, in an unavailing effort to rub off the rust, which, alas House Of Seven Gables by Hawthorne, Nathaniel View in context He wished to rub off the velvet of his horns against the cold stones of Kali's statue, and stamped his feet when he saw the man at the shrine. The Second Jungle Book by Kipling, Rudyard View in context Bad habits cling to us, however, with such persistency that I did mechanically pull out my handkerchief and begin to rub off the welcoming smudge, a thing I never would have dreamed of doing in the glorious old days; but an artful scent of violets clinging to the handkerchief brought me to my senses, and with a sudden impulse of scorn, the fine scorn for scent of every honest Backfisch, I rolled it up into a ball and flung it away into the bushes, where I daresay it is at this moment. Elizabeth and her German Garden by Von Arnim, Elizabeth View in context More results

References in classic literature

The brown scales, too, had evidently undergone rigid discipline, in an unavailing effort to rub off the rust, which, alas

House Of Seven Gables by Hawthorne, Nathaniel View in context

He wished to rub off the velvet of his horns against the cold stones of Kali's statue, and stamped his feet when he saw the man at the shrine.

The Second Jungle Book by Kipling, Rudyard View in context

Bad habits cling to us, however, with such persistency that I did mechanically pull out my handkerchief and begin to rub off the welcoming smudge, a thing I never would have dreamed of doing in the glorious old days; but an artful scent of violets clinging to the handkerchief brought me to my senses, and with a sudden impulse of scorn, the fine scorn for scent of every honest Backfisch, I rolled it up into a ball and flung it away into the bushes, where I daresay it is at this moment.

Elizabeth and her German Garden by Von Arnim, Elizabeth View in context

More results

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roving eye
row
rub
rub elbows with
rub it in
rub nose in it
rub of the green

rub off
rub out
rub salt in/into the wound
rub salt into wounds
rub shoulders with
rub the wrong way
rub up the wrong way
rubber

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