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The act of rubbing, smoothing, or dressing; a dressing off smooth with an adz.

To cause to disappear (as anything impresses or inscribed upon a surface) by rubbing out, striking out, etc.; to erase; to render illegible or indiscernible; as, to efface the letters on a monument, or the inscription on a coin.

The act of moistening and rubbing a diseased part with spirit, oil, etc.

The act of erasing; a rubbing out; expunction; obliteration. Johnson.

The act of erasing; a rubbing out; obliteration.

the skin of; to abrade; to gall; to break and remove the cuticle of, in any manner, as by rubbing, beating, or by the action of acrid substances.

The act of wiping or rubbing out. [Obs.]

To rub; to wear off, or wear into shreds, by rubbing; to fret, as cloth; as, a deer is said to fray her head.

An unguent; also, the act of rubbing with the unguent.

The act of rubbing the surface of one body against that of another; attrition; in hygiene, the act of rubbing the body with the hand, with flannel, or with a brush etc., to excite the skin to healthy action.

To soften and make of even thickness by rubbing, as with pumice stone or a blunt instrument. Frizzing machine. (a) (Fabrics) A machine for frizzing the surface of cloth. (b) (Wood Working) A bench with a revolving cutter head slightly protruding above its surface, for dressing boards.

To rub or wear by rubbing; to chafe. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

To fret and wear away by friction; to hurt or break the skin of by rubbing; to chafe; to injure the surface of by attrition; as, a saddle galls the back of a horse; to gall a mast or a cable. I am loth to gall a new-healed wound. Shak.

To smooth or polish anything, as leater, by rubbing it with a glass burnisher.

nst another, causing a harsh sound; as, to grate the teeth; to produce (a harsh sound) by rubbing. On their hinges grate Harsh thunder. Milton.

t which, grates; especially, an instrument or utensil with a rough, indented surface, for rubbing off small particles of any substance; as a grater for nutmegs.

Victuals; food. [Slang] Halliwell. Grub ax or axe, a kind of mattock used in grubbing up roots, etc. -- Grub breaker. Same as Grub hook (below). -- Grub hoe, a heavy hoe for grubbing. -- Grub hook, a plowlike implement for uprooting stumps, breaking roots, etc. -- Grub saw, a handsaw used for sawing marble. -- Gru…

A rough, flat scrubbing broom for scrubbing a ship's bottom under water. Totten.

A stone used by seamen for scrubbing the decks of ships. Totten.

The work belonging to housekeeping; especially, kitchen work, sweeping, scrubbing, bed making, and the like.