rub (redirected from rubbing along)

not have two pennies to rub together (British, American & Australian, American)

to be very poor. She's been out of work for months and doesn't have two pennies to rub together.

See also: penny, together, two

rub it in (informal)

if someone rubs it in, they keep talking about something that makes you feel embarrassed or upset. I know I made a mistake, but you don't have to rub it in.

rub someone's nose in it (informal, informal)

to say or do something which makes someone remember that they have failed. I didn't tell him I'd started another relationship. I didn't want to rub his nose in it.

See also: nose

the rub of the green (mainly British)

if you have the rub of the green, you have good luck, especially in a sports competition. This player hasn't had the rub of the green in the last few tournaments.

See also: green

rub salt in/into the wound

to make a difficult situation even worse for someone. Losing was bad enough, having to watch them receiving the trophy just rubbed salt into the wound.

See also: salt, wound

rub shoulders with someone (British, American & Australian, informal, American & Australian, informal)

to spend time with famous people. He's Hollywood's most popular hairdresser and regularly rubs shoulders with top movie stars.

See also: shoulder

rub someone up the wrong way (British & Australian, American)

to annoy someone without intending to. It's not her fault - she just rubs me up the wrong way. Whenever they meet, they always manage to rub each other the wrong way.

See also: way, wrong

There's the rub. (old-fashioned, old-fashioned)

something that you say when you are explaining what the difficulty is in a particular situation. You can't get a job unless you have experience. And there's the rub - how do you get experience if you can't get a job?

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rub elbows with someone

to meet or be with someone socially. As Ms Quasebarth's personal assistant, Celia has rubbed elbows with singers and DJ's and even presidents.

See also: elbow

rub it in

to make someone feel even worse about something. I wanted to rub it in a bit, so I said, “I'll be thinking of you working as I lie on the beach this afternoon.”

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

rub someone out

to kill someone. She got into serious trouble when she ran an ad that said, “Looking for someone to rub out your Ex?” as a joke.

Usage notes: generally used when referring to criminals who employ someone to kill an enemy

rub salt into someone's wounds

to make someone feel even worse about something. It's too bad Charlie couldn't come, but let's not tell him they let us in for free — there's no point rubbing salt into his wounds.

See also: salt, wound

rub shoulders with someone

to meet or be with someone socially. The receptions offered a chance for business people to rub shoulders with business people from other countries.

See also: shoulder

rub someone the wrong way

to annoy someone. He was known as a moody and selfish player who rubbed teammates the wrong way.

Etymology: based on the idea that if you rub the wrong way on a cat's fur, you annoy it

See also: way, wrong

there's the rub

here is the difficulty. You can't get a job unless you have experience. And there's the rub – how do you get experience if you can't get a job?

Usage notes: also appears as here's the rub and that's the rub: The factory is ready to go, but here's the rub – there's no market for the products.