rub

frotar

rub(

ruhb

)

A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object (e.g. I bought a book.).

transitive verb

1. (to apply friction)

a. frotar

He was rubbing his hands together in excitement for dinner.Se frotaba las manos con ganas para la cena.

b. restregar

Rubbing your chopsticks together is an insult to the host in Japan.Restregar los palillos es un insulto al anfitrión en Japón.

c. friccionar

Don't rub your scalp with the towel to dry it.No te fricciones el cuero cabelludo con la toalla para secarlo.

d. refregar

Jake woke up, rubbed his eyes and got out of bed.Jake se despertó, se refregó los ojos y se levantó de la cama.

e. masajear (to pass over with the hands)

The masseuse rubbed my back and my legs.La masajista me masajeó la espalda y las piernas.

2. (culinary)

a. mezclar

Rub the spices into the meat and let it marinate for an hour.Mezcla las especias con la carne y déjala marinar por una hora.

An intransitive verb is one that does not require a direct object (e.g. The man sneezed.).

intransitive verb

3. (to graze; used with "against")

a. rozar

I get nervous when the bus is packed and people rub against me.Me pongo nervioso cuando el autobús está lleno y la gente me roza.

A noun is a word referring to a person, animal, place, thing, feeling or idea (e.g. man, dog, house).

noun

4. (act of rubbing)

This refers to an idiomatic word or phrase for which there is no word-for-word translation.

no direct translation

I'm giving my knee a rub because I hit it on the desk.Me estoy frotando la rodilla porque me pegué contra el escritorio.

I'm really stressed. Can you give me a back rub?Estoy muy estresado. ¿Puedes darme un masaje de espalda?

5. (culinary)

a. el adobo

(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).

(M)

If you tenderize the meat before you add the rub, it will taste better.Si ablandas la carne antes de añadir el adobo, estará más rica.

b. el aliño

(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).

(M)

He applied a rub to the roast and let it rest overnight.Le puso aliño al asado y lo dejó en reposo durante la noche.

6. (difficulty)

a. el problema

(m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol).

(M)

The rub is that we don't have money for a plane ticket.El problema es que no tenemos dinero para viajar en avión.

rub

A noun is a word referring to a person, animal, place, thing, feeling or idea (e.g. man, dog, house).

Noun

1. (general)

to give something a rubfrotar algo

2. (fig)

there's the rub!¡ahí está el problema!

A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object (e.g. I bought a book.).

transitive verb

3. (general)

a. frotar

to rub one's hands togetherfrotarse las manos

4. (fig)

to rub shoulders withcodearse con

5. (colloquial)

to rub somebody up the wrong waycaer mal a alguien

6. (colloquial)

there's no need to rub it in!¡no tienes por qué restregármelo por las narices!

An intransitive verb is one that does not require a direct object (e.g. The man sneezed.).

intransitive verb

7. (straps, shoes)

a. rozar

rub [rʌb]

noun

1 (gen)

to give sth a rub frotar algo; to give one's shoes a rub (up) limpiar los zapatos; to give the silver a rub sacar brillo a la plata; to give sb's back a rub frotar la espalda de algn

there's the rub ahí está el problema; esa es la dificultad; the rub is that ... el problema es que ...

transitive verb

(apply friction) frotar; (hard) restregar; estregar; (Med) etc friccionar; (to clean) limpiar frotando; (polish) sacar brillo a

to rub one's hands together frotarse las manos; to rub sth dry secar algo frotándolo; to rub a surface bare alisar una superficie a fuerza de frotarla; to rub a cream into the skin frotar la piel con una crema

intransitive verb

to rub against/on sth rozar algo

Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Examples