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a. & n. from Rub, v.

The act of abrading, wearing, or rubbing off; the wearing away by friction; as, the abrasion of coins.

The act of rubbing against. [Obs.]

The act or offense of grubbing up trees and bushes, and thus destroying the tickets or coverts of a forest. Spelman. Cowell.

The act of rubbing together; friction; the act of wearing by friction, or by rubbing substances together; abrasion. Effected by attrition of the inward stomach. Arbuthnot.

A form of acupuncture, followed by the rubbing of the part with a stimulating fluid.

To mingle, or to bring to a uniformly soft consistence, by beating, rubbing, or straining, as in some culinary operations.

The act of brushing; as, to give one's clothes a brush; a rubbing or grazing with a quick motion; a light touch; as, we got a brush from the wheel as it passed. [As leaves] have with one winter's brush Fell from their boughts. Shak.

To cause to shine; to make smooth and bright; to polish; specifically, to polish by rubbing with something hard and smooth; as, to burnish brass or paper. The frame of burnished steel, that east a glare From far, and seemed to thaw the freezing air. Dryden. Now the village windows blaze, Burnished by the setting sun. C…

, rounded end or surface, as of steel, ivory, or agate, used in smoothing or polishing by rubbing. It has a variety of forms adapted to special uses.

To copy, as a drawing, by rubbing the back of it with red or black chalk, and then passing a blunt style or needle over the lines, so as to leave a tracing on the paper or other thing against which it is laid or held. [Writting also calque]

To fret and wear by rubbing; as, to chafe a cable. Two slips of parchment which she sewed round it to prevent its being chafed. Sir W. Scott.

The act of rubbing, or wearing by friction; making by rubbing. Chafing dish, a dish or vessel for cooking on the table, or for keeping food warm, either by coals, by a lamp, or by hot water; a portable grate for coals. -- Chafing gear (Naut.), any material used to protect sails, rigging, or the like, at points where t…

A rubbing together; friction. [Obs.] Bacon.

The act of grinding or ribbing to powder; attrition; friction; rubbing. [Obs.] The breaking of their parts into less parts by contrition. Sir I. Newton.

A grating or crackling sensation or sound, as that produced by rubbing two fragments of a broken bone together, or by pressing upon cellular tissue containing air.

insect of the genus Gryllus, and allied genera. The males make chirping, musical notes by rubbing together the basal parts of the veins of the front wings.

le made by repeatedly dipping a wick in melted tallow. -- To dip snuff, to take snuff by rubbing it on the gums and teeth. [Southern U. S.] -- To dip the colors (Naut.), to lower the colors and return them to place; -- a form of naval salute.

The practice of taking snuff by rubbing the teeth or gums with a stick or brush dipped in snuff. [U.S.] Dipping needle, a magnetic needle suspended at its center of gravity, and moving freely in a vertical plane, so as to indicate on a graduated circle the magnetic dip or inclination.

r or cloth; to dress or trim a lamp; to dress a garden; to dress a horse, by currying and rubbing; to dress grain, by cleansing it; in mining and metallurgy, to dress ores, by sorting and separating them.