I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
rub your eyes
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Anna rubbed her eyes wearily.
rubbing alcohol
rubbing...hands with glee
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Manufacturers are rubbing their hands with glee as they prepare to cash in.
shake/rub/wipe etc sth dry
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He wiped his hands dry with a handkerchief.
stroke/rub your chin (= stroke it in a way that shows you are thinking about something )
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He stroked his chin and then seemed to come to a decision.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
arm
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Ryker knelt beside her, shook her, rubbed her arms as if trying to restore the circulation.
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He rubbed his arms and unfastened his balancing pole but was too weak to raise it.
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Léonie rubbed her arm , very cross.
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I sucked on breath mints, rubbed deodorant under my arms and on my feet.
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It stared at it for a moment, rubbing its arms , and then it picked up the telephone.
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Nakki rubbed his legs and arms with raw onion.
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She rubbed her arm , where she had a large bruise above the elbow.
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The others huddled around Jack to give him the protection and warmth of their bodies, and rubbed his arms and legs.
back
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I remember rubbing my Dad's back and shoulders in the hospital.
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Mitchell rubbed the back of his neck, scowling.
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The blanket rubbed his tender back , setting up a prickle of pain.
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He stood facing the wall where the lizard stains were, rubbing the back of his neck.
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She rubbed the back of her neck with a gloved hand.
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But then she began to rub my back and neck, and to kiss me.
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The girl yawned and rubbed the back of her head just as the wind of Jezrael's exit ruffled the yellow curls.
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Andriutti was rubbing the back of his left arm with his right hand, as if it itched.
body
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He curled his tail round my legs, rubbing his body against me.
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And she had been special, Ruth gritted to herself as she rubbed her body liberally with shower gel.
cheek
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Katherine rubbed her cheek where the pain had been.
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She reached out to Connie and rubbed his cheek slowly and solemnly.
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She pulled one from its hanger and rubbed it against her cheek , her eyes closed.
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He pretended to rub the oft-offended cheek , and everyone laughed as Sabina grinned and went back to Mel.
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Thought of fat Goldberg shuffling round the glass in the little room, rubbing his unshaven cheeks , wheezing.
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The tack adds to this by rubbing the cheek against the sharp teeth.
chin
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Now, in the reluctant dawn light, he stood eyeing the carriage and rubbing his grizzled chin .
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He stood for a moment, rubbing his chin .
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With her other hand she rubbed me under my chin - my other weak spot.
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He rubbed his chin absently on the top of Tessa's head, so that he could look over it at the girl.
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Rip rubbed his chin , and noticed that he had a long, scraggly beard.
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Don't twiddle your hair, pull your ears, scratch your face, nor rub your nose or chin .
ear
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Cardiff shook his head, rubbing at his ears .
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He rubbed his ears , both of them at the same time.
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The sight of one of the boys rubbing a festering ear , while carrying food, also diminished his appetite.
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Mr Barraza crinkled up his face and rubbed his ears .
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He sighed and rubbed his ears .
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The bottle in her hand rubbed against his ear .
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I rub his ears briskly and pet him.
elbow
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I rubbed my elbow , regarding him thoughtfully.
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There were retro-outfit types rubbing elbows with people wearing the original gear.
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She came back into the kitchen, rubbing her elbow .
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Sun-bleached surfers rub elbows at the bar, and stray toddlers wander through the dining rooms.
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Léonie sat up, rubbing her elbows .
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In some instances, what enticed these donors to open their checkbooks was the chance to rub elbows with the president.
face
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Don't twiddle your hair, pull your ears, scratch your face , nor rub your nose or chin.
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Mr Barraza crinkled up his face and rubbed his ears.
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My bare face rubbed against the soft fuzz of her robe.
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Before bringing the receiver to his face , he rubs the earpiece and mouthpiece against the sleeve of his denim jacket.
finger
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The low mewling sound it made indicated its displeasure; those long, clawed fingers rubbed the bridge of its nose.
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He poured the lotion on his fingers , then rubbed his fingers lightly over the bites.
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I licked a finger and rubbed it on the stone.
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She wet her finger now and rubbed at an ink smudge on the desktop.
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Henry licked his finger , then rubbed it against his trouser leg.
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He pinched his eyes with his fingers and rubbed .
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Adam licked his fingers and rubbed them over his eyes as he tried to get accustomed to the dark.
foot
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At the end of the massage, briskly rub your feet to revitalize your energy.
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Then he reaches back with his hand and rubs his foot with it.
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Then she sits on the couch, slips off her black pumps and rubs her stocking feet together.
forehead
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Boltwood rubbed a little on the forehead of a four year-old who immune system was severely depressed.
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He rubbed his forehead , a look of dismay on his face that Rob had never seen there before.
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Craig rubbed at his forehead in a mingling of anger and despair.
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Then he rubbed his forehead . ` Sorry.
glee
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Thousands of people will be rubbing their hands with glee .
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I can see the disinfectant manufactures rubbing their hands with glee , confident of selling still stronger-smelling concoctions.
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Players' agents and satellite salesmen will be rubbing their hands with glee .
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And ace marksman Aldo is rubbing his hands in glee at the prospect.
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No doubt the outdoor equipment industry would rub its hands in glee at the thought of such a lucrative threat to its customers.
hair
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Today she was almost beside herself with desire, rubbing her hair dry with fierce, frantic energy.
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He looked down at me and rubbed my hair with his hand.
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Girls, caught by the arm, have snow rubbed into their hair like salt into a herring.
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He was still holding my hand and then he rubbed my hair .
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Don't rub hair with a towel after washing - blot and leave it to dry.
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Captain Trung had come up, helmet in one hand, rubbing his spiky hair with the other.
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He smiled and rubbed my hair .
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She sat outside the tarpaulin, rubbed her hair with ghee, then filled a basin with water and a little buttermilk.
hand
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She watched him raise one hand to rub the nape of his neck, then flex his shoulder muscles.
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He was still holding my hand and then he rubbed my hair.
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Then he reaches back with his hand and rubs his foot with it.
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Captain Trung had come up, helmet in one hand , rubbing his spiky hair with the other.
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Joe stared down at the large, rough hand gently rubbing against him.
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The bottle in her hand rubbed against his ear.
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Evidently terrified out of her wits, she had become delirious, mumbling incomprehensibly, her hands rubbing her stomach.
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Spin the straw by placing it between the palms of your hands , rubbing them back and forth.
head
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Grout glared at them both as he rubbed his smarting head .
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Interactivity: The sign promises luck should you rub the head of a certain fiberglass leprechaun.
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She leapt out of bed as he rubbed his head , cursing.
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He rubbed me on the head and said, All those white people are like that.
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Simon explains, whisking off his cap and rubbing his head gently.
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Cobalt sat up, swore and rubbed his head .
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First the owner starts to stroke the cat, tickle its ear, or gently rub its head .
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He rubbed his head rapidly, feeling his face turning red.
leg
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She heard the click of the gate; then nothing, except the crickets rubbing their back legs together in the grass.
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Elmer stands Magic on the concrete pad and rubs his legs .
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An hour or so later, Marek started to rub his leg and called across a nurse because his head ached.
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Nakki rubbed his legs and arms with raw onion.
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As he got out of the van he heard a soft purring and felt the warm caress of a cat rubbing his legs .
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The others huddled around Jack to give him the protection and warmth of their bodies, and rubbed his arms and legs .
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The former was still rubbing his legs , with small grimaces of pain.
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Then she started rubbing her arms and legs , like she was sitting in a snowbank.
neck
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But then she began to rub my back and neck , and to kiss me.
nose
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Even when you rub their noses in it, politicians can be remarkably slow to recognise reality for what it is.
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A child might not complain of itching, but she might be rubbing her eyes or nose repeatedly.
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The Deputy Under Secretary rubbed his nose , watched a flake of skin pirouette down to the opened pages of the file.
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He kept blinking to clear his eyes and now he rubbed his nose .
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He stepped forward, stopped suddenly, and rubbed his nose .
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She had defined what she perceived to be reality, and she kept trying to rub Scarlet's nose in it.
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They rubbed their noses on it so that globs of anthrax green snot hung off it in the morning.
palm
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Squirt it into your hand, rub your palms together then run them through your hair, ensuring even distribution.
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Fontaine bowed his head and studied his hands as he gently rubbed his palms together.
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Massingham picked them up and rubbed them between his palms and thumbs and sniffed.
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Doi-san squeezes shampoo into her hand and then rubs her palms together briskly.
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One hand was already rubbing against the palm of the other, the susurration of skin whispering under his voice.
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Matilda rubbed her palm against it and a white powder came off on to her skin.
salt
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Leeson was looking around for inspiration, a topic that didn't rub salt into wounds.
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To rub salt into the wound, they had Michael Mols sent off.
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To help keep these bold bloodsuckers at bay we rubbed wet salt on our boots.
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Trim any excess fat from the lamb, leaving the skin untouched, and rub the joint with salt and pepper.
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This means that the rinds are dipped or rubbed with salt during their ripening period.
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Boro rubbed salt into the wound by scoring with their first genuine scoring attempt.
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Some traditional bacons use the dry cure method of rubbing salt into the pork's surface without adding water.
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Fifth Street brought an eight, giving Dastmalchi an irrelevant pair to rub salt in Jacob's wounds.
shoulder
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His large untidy head was set close to shoulders which rubbed against the long lobes of his ears.
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He was kissing her shoulder and rubbing her thigh.
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Having your neck and shoulders rubbed , or better still a full body massage, is a good investment.
skin
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When peppers are cool enough to handle, the skin should rub off.
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You know, the skin rubbed off with carrying the barley.
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Stubborn patches of dry skin can be removed with a rough skin remover cream, rubbed in, then rinsed off.
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Trim any excess fat from the lamb, leaving the skin untouched, and rub the joint with salt and pepper.
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The skins can be rubbed with a little margarine prior to cooking.
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Mouth upon mouth, tongue against tongue, limb upon limb, skin rubbing at skin.
surface
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Alternatively, rub the surface with lemon, which helps to keep it smelling fresh and reduces staining.
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Divide mixture by number of eggplants and rub inner surfaces of eggplants with mixture.
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The loose graphite powder can be rubbed into paper surfaces to give a silvery-grey tone.
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The filler is rubbed hard across the surface of the wood, wiping off the surplus filler with a clean cloth.
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A small quantity of oil is sprinkled on a clean rag and rubbed well into the surface to be polished.
thumb
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He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, waved his hand, and sat there.
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Mitchell touched the silverware in front of him, rubbed his thumb in the hollow feminine side of the teaspoon.
wound
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Leeson was looking around for inspiration, a topic that didn't rub salt into wounds .
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It was rather like having a heated dagger thrust into the eyeball and twisted, then caustic soda rubbed in the wound .
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To rub salt into the wound , they had Michael Mols sent off.
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He just goes around there to rub dirt in their wounds .
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Boro rubbed salt into the wound by scoring with their first genuine scoring attempt.
wrist
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Then she rubbed her wrists and her forehead with a cologne stick.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Rub the bowl with garlic before adding the breadcrumbs.
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Rubbing a dock leaf on a nettle sting is said to get rid of the pain.
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About once a month I rub wax into the table to keep it in good condition.
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Alice yawned and rubbed her eyes.
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Ann woke up and rubbed her eyes.
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Badly fitting shoes will rub more painfully if you are not wearing socks.
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Bill had fallen on the path and was rubbing his knee.
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Colin yawned and rubbed his eyes.
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Could you rub my neck? It's really stiff.
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I had to rub hard to get the marks off.
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If you rub hard the knives will become really shiny.
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precious stones that have been rubbed smooth and set in gold
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Rodriguez rubbed his leg to ease the pain.
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She washed her hands and face, rubbing the lipstick away with a flannel.
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The teacher rubbed against the blackboard, getting chalk all over his back.
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The teacher turned and rubbed what he had written off the board.
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These days rucksacks are made with specially padded straps so that they do not rub against the shoulders.
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This seatbelt is rubbing my shoulder.
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Tom spread sun cream onto the baby's back and began to rub it in.
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When the cat rubs its back against my legs, I know it's hungry.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A fragment was rubbed into the eyes, causing them to water copiously.
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Had the ex-scumnik's laboriously acquired veneer rubbed away, though, at the prospect of mayhem?
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He rubbed polish in little circles on to the shoes that Erlich thought were impressively polished.
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Place the block oil-side down into some jeweller's rouge powder, then rub it on to the mirror edge.
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Scathach stirred, sat up and rubbed his eyes, blinking at the dawn, scratching his beard.
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Sethe rubbed and rubbed, pressing the work cloth and the stony curves that made up his knee.
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Swallowing convulsively, she rubbed vigorously at her face and hair with a large bath towel until her skin burned.
II. noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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lemon and ginger rub
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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But here's the rub - there had been one here before!
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That, of course, had been the rub .
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The lake you say you have found in me suffers a climate entirely of my own making-and there is the rub .
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To sleep: perchance to dream: aye, there's the rub .