rubber

RUB-ur/ˈɹʌbɚ/SayRUB-uhUK/ˈɹʌbə//ˈɹɐbə/

21 meanings of rubber

1
nouncountable or uncountable
A stretchy material that springs back into shape, made either from tree sap or in factories.
Like a stretchy band that always pulls back to its first shape.
The soles of these boots are made of thick rubber.
Rubber stretches easily and then snaps back into place.
2
nouncountable or uncountable
A soft, bendy material that comes from the milky sap of certain tropical trees.
Like the sticky sap that oozes from a tree, but dried into a stretchy solid.
Workers collect the sap that later hardens into rubber.
This bouncy ball is made from natural rubber.
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3
nounAustraliaBruneiIndiaNew ZealandUKcountable
A small tool used to rub out pencil marks from paper.
Like a tiny tool that wipes away pencil lines, the way a sponge wipes a board.
Can I borrow your rubber? I need to fix this sum.
She kept a rubber and a sharpener in her pencil case.
Similareraser
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4
nounslangCanadaUScountable
A thin cover worn during sex to stop pregnancy and disease.
He bought a pack of rubbers at the drugstore.
Always use a rubber to stay safe.
Similarcondom
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5
nounCanadaUSuncountableplural
Waterproof covers that slip over shoes to keep feet dry in wet weather.
Ben came home with just one rubber because he lost the other in the snow.
His rubbers kept his socks dry all through the slush.
Similargaloshes, overshoes
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6
nounslanguncountable
A vehicle's tires, especially the ones used in racing.
Like the soles of running shoes wearing thin after many miles.
The driver pitted for fresh rubber before the final laps.
These cars burn through rubber fast on a hot track.
Similartires
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7
nouncountable
A flat rectangular plate on the pitcher's mound that a baseball pitcher must touch while throwing.
Like the starting line a runner must stay behind before a race begins.
The pitcher kept one foot on the rubber as he wound up.
She toed the rubber and stared down the batter.
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8
nounCanadaUScountable
A final game played to break a tie when each side has won the same number.
Like a tiebreaker round that decides who finally wins.
They split the first two games, so tonight's match is the rubber.
She won the rubber to take the whole series.
Similardecider, tiebreaker
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9
nouncountable
A whole set of games, usually three, played until one side wins the most.
They played a long rubber of bridge that lasted past midnight.
We each won one game, so the third game decided the rubber.
Similarseries
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10
nouncountable
A single match that is one part of a larger series, often in racket sports.
Like one game in a row of games that together decide the winner.
He won the second rubber to level the contest.
She lost the opening rubber but recovered to win her next two.
Similarmatch, game
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11
noununcountable
A form of the card game bridge scored in sets called rubbers.
Like playing best-of-three card rounds with friends at the table.
On Friday nights they always play rubber bridge at the club.
She learned rubber bridge from her grandmother as a child.
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12
nouncountable
A person or thing that rubs against something.
Like a sponge that wipes a surface as it moves across it.
The machine's rubber presses against the wood to smooth it.
Workers replaced the worn rubbers that polish the glass.
Similarpolisher, buffer
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13
nouncountable or uncountable
A rough towel used to rub the body dry.
After his bath he rubbed himself warm with a coarse rubber.
The gym handed each swimmer a thick rubber to dry off.
Similartowel
14
nouncountable or uncountable
A rough tool used to wear down or smooth a surface, like a file.
He sharpened the blade on a coarse rubber.
The carpenter smoothed the edge with a fine rubber.
15
nouncountable or uncountable
A person whose job is to rub and knead the body to ease aches.
The rubber worked the knots out of her shoulders.
He visited a rubber at the baths to ease his sore back.
Similarmasseur, masseuse
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16
nouncountable or uncountable
A person who cleans and dries down horses by rubbing them.
The stable's rubber brushed each horse until its coat shone.
After the race a rubber wiped the sweat from the tired mare.
Similargroom
17
verbslangintransitive
To stare at something with too much nosy interest.
Like a child who can't stop peeking at something they shouldn't.
Drivers slowed to rubber at the crash on the highway.
Stop rubbering at the neighbors and finish your chores.
Similargawk, gape, stare, gawp
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18
verbintransitive
To secretly listen in on someone else's phone call.
Like pressing your ear to a wall to hear people talking next door.
She would rubber on her neighbors' calls from the shared line.
The operator was caught rubbering on private conversations.
Similareavesdrop
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19
adjectiveslang
Of a check, having no money behind it, so it bounces.
Like a promise to pay with money that isn't really there.
His rubber check bounced before the rent was due.
The store refused to take another rubber check from him.
Similarbad, bounced, dud
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20
noundateduncountable
A piece of bad luck or a hard time.
Like a heavy weight of bad luck pressing down on you.
Losing his job that winter was a hard rubber to bear.
The British barges, off New-London, sometimes meet with the rubbers. In an attack upon an armed smack, some days ago, they were beaten off, with the reported loss of 8 men killed.
1814, The Weekly RegisterHere, rubbers means hard times or bad luck.
Similarmisfortune, hardship, blow, setback
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21
nounhistoricaluncountable
The soft pad that rubs against the spinning part of an old electric machine to make a charge.
Like rubbing a balloon on your hair to make it stick to a wall.
The rubber pressed against the glass disk and built up a charge.
He replaced the worn rubber on the old electric machine.
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Practice

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Origin

From the word 'rub' plus '-er'. The material got its name because it could rub out pencil marks like an eraser.