rub-a-dub-dubn.
/ˌrʌbədʌbˈdʌb/, U.S. /ˈrəbəˈdəbˈdəb/ 1. The sound of a drum being beaten; a drumming sound. Also: any rhythmic sound or motion.Now frequently used in the context of bathing, with allusion to the nursery rhyme referred to in quot. 1851.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > regular or alternating rhythm > drumming
randana1661
rub-a-duba1661
drumming1663
row dow dow1701
rub-a-dub-dub1714
tattoo1755
rattan1764
drum1810
rataplan1846
kettledrumming1848
tom-tom1863
tattooing1871
tumming1882
tum1911
1714 in H. Playford Wit & Mirth V. 173 To treat those that come with a rub a dub dub, For dear Mother they'll make us Jolly.
1814 W. Scott Waverley II. xi. 185 The drum advanced, beating no measured martial tune, but a kind of rub-a-dub-dub . View more context for this quotation
1851 Notes & Queries 17 May 388/1 Sing rub-a-dub-dub, Three men in a tub.
1887 Argus (Melbourne) 24 Dec. 4/3 I am always hearing..the ear-piercing fife and the rub-a-dub-dub of the drum.
1906 Kindergarten Rev. May 557/2 The ‘Rub-a-dub-dub!’ came nearer and soon the whole band could be heard playing.
1939 L. I. Wilder By Shores Silver Lake iii. 21 The wheels began to beat time. A rub-a-dubdub, a rub-a-dubdub, the wheels went.
2007 Daily Star (Nexis) 20 Dec. 21 Two randy Big Brother wannabes have enjoyed a rub-a-dub-dub in the hot tub.
2. British, Australian, and New Zealand. [Rhyming slang.] A public house.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tavern or public house
houseOE
tavern1297
tavern-housea1400
sunc1400
tap-house1500
tippling-housea1549
innsc1550
bousing-inn1575
ivy-bush1576
osteria1580
ordinary1590
caback1591
taberna1593
bousing-house1594
pothouse1598
red lattice1604
cupping-house1615
public house1617
busha1625
Wirtshaus1650
bibbery1653
cabaret1656
gaming ordinary1667
public1685
shop1695
bibbing-housea1704
dram-shop1725
gill house1728
rum shop1738
buvette1753
dram-house1753
grog-shop1790
wine-vault1791
pub1800
pulperia1818
pulqueria1822
potation-shop1823
rum hole1825
Wirtschaft1834
drunkery1836
pot shop1837
drinkery1840
rum mill1844
khazi1846
beer-shop1848
boozer1895
rub-a-dub1898
Weinstube1899
rubbity-dub1905
peg house1922
rub-a-dub-dub1932
rubbity1941
Stube1946
superpub1964
1932 ‘P. P.’ Rhyming Slang 15 'E at once takes a walk to the ‘Rub-a-dub-dub’, After slammin' the ‘Rory O'Moore’.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. xv. 270 A hotel becomes known in rhyming slang as a rub-a-dub-dub—by rhyme on ‘pub’.
1965 E. G. Webber Try again Friday 107 There will be streets, shops, houses, parking meters, schools, hospitals, TABs,..bowser stations,..pubs, clubs, and rubadub-dubs.
1971 National Times (Austral.) 13 Dec. 20 ‘Let's grab some Kate and Sydney and a pint of apple fritter at the rub-a-dub-dub.’.. Translated: ‘Let's grab some steak and kidney and a pint of bitter at the pub.’
2003 C. Palmer Love's Proof 123 Gimme your chalk now, and we'll be off to the rub-a-dub-dub.
Compounds
General attributive (in sense 1).
ΚΠ
1831 Lincoln Herald 16 Dec. 3/6 The rub-a-dub-dub sound of these grand instruments.
1887 W. S. Pratt in W. Gladden Parish Probl. 426 A player whose taste is limited to the rub-a-dub-dub class of music.
1903 Ampleforth Jrnl. Apr. 293 Read this with its own swing—a rub-a-dub-dub movement, giving two strong beats in each line.
2007 L. Kramer Why Classical Music still Matters iii. 105 A rambunctious, playful energy, especially notable in bumptious rub-a-dub-dub patter on the lower strings.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1714