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单词 rubber
释义

rubbern.1

Brit. /ˈrʌbə/, U.S. /ˈrəbər/
Forms: late Middle English rubbour, late Middle English– rubber, 1500s rubbar; Scottish pre-1700 robor, pre-1700 rouber, pre-1700 rowbber, pre-1700 rubar, pre-1700 rubbour, pre-1700 rubbur, pre-1700 ruber, pre-1700 1700s– rubber.
Origin: Formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rub v.1, -er suffix1.
Etymology: < rub v.1 + -er suffix1.In senses at branch III. on account of the use of the substance in rubbing out lead pencil marks; compare India rubber n., Indian rubber n.
I. Something used for rubbing, and related uses.
†1. A sharp iron instrument used in cutting off the superfluous nap of worsted. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1478 in J. C. Tingey Rec. City of Norwich (1910) II. 102 (modernized text) It is ordained that no shearer of worsted in future shall use those instruments sharp and made of iron called rubbours, because many pieces of worsted are cut by them.
2.
a. A hard brush, a cloth, etc., used for cleaning. Now historical and rare.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > scouring, scrubbing, or rubbing > [noun] > implement for scouring or scrubbing
rubber1536
scourer1859
1536 Wardr. Acc. Hen. VIII in Archaeologia (1789) 9 245 One dussen brushes, and one dussen and a halfe of rubbers delyvered to like use into oure saide warderobe of our roobis.
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount i. v. f. 90 To die hogges brystels and other thinges, for to make rubbers and brusshes.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Scuraccio, a skouring cloth, a dish-clout, a skourer, a rubber.
1634 Althorp MS in J. N. Simpkinson Washingtons (1860) App. p. lxviii For small cordes to bynde the rubbers for the parlour.
1666 Edinb. Test. LXXII. f. 150, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Ane hand rubber with ane blak brush.
1694 G. Baillie Househ. Bk. (1911) 165 For a washing ruber, 9 s.
1730 N. Bailey Dict. Britannicum A Rubber, one that rubs, or a Rubbing-Brush.
1743 in J. G. Burnett Powis Papers (1951) 283 A sweeping brush and two Rubbers.
1793 ‘P. Pindar’ Poet. Epist. to Pope 14 Make a good rubber of the Virgin's wig.
1820 F. MacDonogh Hermit in London V. cviii. 229 Who invented the charge..of a score of rubbers, of a gross of brushes, and enough of oil to swim in, for the cleaning of my carriages?
1873 M. M. Wood in E. T. Stevens & C. Hole Useful Knowl. Reading Bks. (Girls' 4th Standard) 154 Various means are adopted..for cleaning windows, but the chamois-leather rubbers..are certainly the best.
1897 H. Ochiltree Shroud xxiv. 332 A' rowed up like a bundle o' heather rubbers.
1913 E. B. Tweedie Amer. as I saw It xi. 224 Not rubbers for washing dishes and floors.
1992 C. Hardyment Home Comfort iii. 48 There were also specialized cloths by the dozen—china cloths for the still-room, rubbers for the kitchen.., pocket cloths for the footman, [etc.].
†b. A rough towel used to rub the body after bathing or exercise in order to promote circulation and dry the skin. Obsolete.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing oneself or body > [noun] > rubbing with towel > towel > bath-towel
rubber1577
bath-towel1863
bath-sheet1899
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. ii. i. sig. G.iiij/2 Let vs forbid to bring napkins & rubbars to Iupiter.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes A little cloth,..a towell, a rubber, a kercher.
1605 S. Rowley When you see Me sig. G Some Rubbers for the Prince.
a1640 P. Massinger Guardian ii. v. 67 in 3 New Playes (1655) I must not forget..The Silver bathing Tub, the Cambrick rubbers, Th' embroider'd Quilt.
1693 J. Dryden tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires iii. 49 The Servants..lay The Rubbers, and the Bathing-sheets display.
1795 J. Anderson Pract. Ess. Good & Bad Effects Sea-water & Sea-bathing 61 On being brought out of the water and well rubbed with dry rubbers the circulation of the blood quickened and increased.
1848 Amer. Agriculturalist 7 309/1 When you rise from the water, put on instantly a loose wrapper of warm cotton..and put on slippers. This will prevent the chilliness that sometimes comes on while you are using the rubbers and towels.
1882 S. Pancoast What is Bright's Disease? viii. 147 I have been in the habit of recommending to patients..the rubbing of the skin with a coarse crash towel or Turkish rubber.
1915 Ann. Rep. N.Y. Dept. Efficiency & Econ. v. 865 The articles which the prisoner may receive from home are..towels, rubbers, small rugs, comb and brush.
†c. = strigil n. 1. Obsolete.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun] > strigil
rubber1581
scraper1581
strigil1581
skin-scraper1864
raclette1887
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxiv. 121 They disrobed themselues, and were chafed with a gentle kinde of rubber.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 170 Like as Theocritus served twaine who would seeme to borrow of him his rubber or currying combe in the very baine.
1683 J. Phillips tr. G.-J. Grelot Late Voy. Constantinople 191 These Grogram rubbers are come in place of the ancient Strigiles or Scrapers.
1785 E. Owen tr. Juvenal Satires I. iii. 59 Make the loud sounding rubbers [L. strigilis] clean and bright, The towels lay, the cruet fill with oil.
d. A rough towel or brush used for rubbing down or grooming a horse.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > grooming of horses > grooming instruments
horse-comba1100
wisp1362
combc1440
mane-comb1564
curry-comb1573
scraper1581
rubber1598
teaseler1607
French brush1655
sweating-iron1753
dandy-brush1845
groomera1884
sweat-scraper1908
1598 I. R. Fitzherbert's Bk. Husbandry (rev. ed.) iv. iii. 146 Bodkin, knyfe, rubber, giue thy horse meate.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice v. 23 With this rubber you shall curry your Horse ouer in all pointes as you did with your curry combe.
1721 Inventory F. Hawes 7 in Particulars & Inventories Estates South-sea Company II A Chaise, Harness, Rubbers.
1783 F. Gladwin tr. A. Allâmî Ayeen Akbery I. i. 172 A new woollen rubber is allowed every six months.
1825 S. Adams & S. Adams Compl. Servant 400 The horse is whisped again with a damp lock of hay, and finally, rubbed down with a woollen rubber, or a clean cloth.
1872 Ann. Rep. Inspectors State Prison Michigan 1871 86 1 curry-comb and rubber.
1935 E. Bagnold National Velvet vi. 94 They rode up to a little lean-to allotment-shed with a padlock where they kept the saddlery and the rubbers.
1975 E. Baird Illustr. Guide Riding xxi. 146 Finish with a rubber or whisp to help promote a glossy coat.
2003 A. Bowes Riding for Life (2008) 87 Spare saddle pads, reins, towels, rubbers, grooming kit and his first aid box.
3. A stone used for sharpening a scythe; a whetstone. Cf. rubstone n. Also more fully rubber stone. Now historical and English regional (southern).
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society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > [noun] > sharpening > whetstone
whetstonec725
hone-stone1393
filourc1400
hone1440
rub1502
rubber1553
knife-stone1571
stone1578
oilstone1585
block1592
oil whetstone1601
greenstone1668
scythe-stone1688
water stone1703
sharping-stone1714
Scotch stone1766
honer1780
Turkey hone1794
polishing-slate1801
burr1816
Turkey stone1816
German hone1817
Arkansas1869
rag1877
rock1889
slipstone1927
1553 J. Withals Shorte Dict. f. 20/2 A rubber stoone to sharpe the sieth, hooke, or other instrumentes with, cos acuaria.
1623 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie (rev. ed.) iii. sig. F1 Rub it [sc. the hive] well with a Rubber, which is a piece of rough grind-stone or sand-stone, as great as your hand can hold.
a1728 J. Woodward Attempt Nat. Hist. Fossils Eng. (1729) i. 18 This..is used for whetting of Scithes, and..is call'd Sand-Stone, Coarse-Scithe-Stone, or Rubber.
1789 J. Abercrombie Compl. Kitchen Gardener 506 Previous to the business of mowing, [scythes] should be furnished with proper rubbers or whet-stones.
1811 J. Farey Gen. View Agric. Derbyshire I. 439 Those intended for round Rubbers are then reduced to an octagon nearly, by the point of the Pick.
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 186 Rubber, a coarse sandstone whetstone, for a scythe... The name is also given to a shoemaker's whetstone.
1880 R. Jefferies Hodge & Masters II. 122 [He] searches for the rubber or whetstone, stuck somewhere in the side of the rick.
1906 Rep. & Trans. Devonshire Assoc. 38 105 Hut Circle 19... Here were found the usual stones and fragments of a well-worn rubber or whetstone.
1942 W. Rose Good Neighbours xii. 102 It was safest and wisest to keep the rubber always handy, to save unnecessary steps to find it when the scythe wanted sharpening.
2004 T. N. Khazanchi in M. K. Kaw Kashmir & its People i. 15 For sharpening the tips of the tools while staying in the pits, rubber stones were used.
†4. A preparation used for cleaning the teeth; a tooth powder. Obsolete. rare.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning or cleanliness of the person > [noun] > cleaning the teeth > dentifrice
tooth-powder1542
dentifrice1558
rubber1558
tooth-blanch1585
tooth-soap1607
tooth-stick1729
toothpaste1832
tooth wash1871
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount ii. f. 53 Dentifrices or rubbers for the teeth, of great perfection, for to make them cleane.
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 74 (heading) Sweet and delicate dentifrices or rubbers for the teeth.
5.
a. A metal or stone implement used for rubbing, esp. in order to smooth or flatten a surface. Now chiefly historical.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > [noun] > smoothing or polishing
rubster1537
burnisher1598
rubber1664
runner1769
glazer1815
lap1815
linisher1943
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva xxx. 102 Two or three days it will only require for cooling, which..they resist, by taking now off the outward covering with a Rabil or Rubber.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 88 Rubber, a small iron instrument, in a wooden handle, to rub down or flatten the seams.
1835 J. Holman Voy. round World III. xiv. 422 The plaster is..smoothed with a rubber, until it acquires an even surface.
1850 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. III. 1089 The Rubber used by Masons and Statuaries is frequently a slab of grit stone, to which a handle is attached by means of an iron strap.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1997/1 In the moldings of stone, an iron rubber mounted on a wooden stock is employed for fillets, beads, and astragals.
1933 S. Casson Technique Early Greek Sculpt. i. i. 36 The hard stones are worked with abrasive rubbers for the general surfaces and outlines.
2008 V. E. Szabo Monstrous Fishes & Mead-dark Sea v. 152 The most common objects found on early sites include..maintenance implements including combs, smoothers, rubbers.
b. A pad or roll of soft material used for rubbing and polishing, spec. a piece of wadding wrapped in a cloth and used in the application of French polish.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > polishing > [noun] > implement for polishing
polisher1532
rubber1670
polissoir1897
1670 J. Evelyn Sylva (ed. 2) xxxi. 198 They..polish it [sc. black putty used to fill in cracks] with a Brush of bents, a wollen-cloth, Felt, and an Hogs-hair Rubber.
1728 Catal. Houshold Furnit. T. Coke (J. Cooper) 11 [In list of linen items] Three Flaxen Table Cloths, three Towels, six Rubbers, and 7 Napkins.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 801 The polishing rubbers [for marble] are coarse linen cloths, or bagging, wedged tight into an iron planing tool.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §1624 The method of applying these polishes is the same for all. A flannel rubber is..dipped in the polish.
1908 F. T. Hodgson Up-to-date Hardwood Finisher ii. 67 Wadding or cotton wool and soft linen or cotton rags, from which the rubbers to apply the polish are made.
1944 J. B. Parry in R. Greenhalgh Pract. Builder viii. 290/2 The tools and materials required are..a large camel-hair mop, and several rubbers made by wrapping cotton wool inside two layers of clean, soft calico.
1998 Independent 9 May (Time Off section) 13/5 There are no short cuts to learning the art of making what is called the ‘rubber’ to polish the piece of furniture. Martin gave a demonstration of this by folding a piece of wadding inside a rag [etc.].
†c. Engraving and Printing. (a) A cloth or pad used to rub a sheet of paper in order to transfer the impression of an engraving on to it or another surface; (b) a cloth used to polish and smooth away the burrs on a copperplate. Obsolete.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > [noun] > engraving tools > other equipment
oil rubber?1790
rubber1816
bordering-wax1878
1816 W. Y. Ottley Inq. Early Hist. Engraving I. 81 The friction of a rubber, made of hair, or of pieces of cloth, was then applied to the paper, which was thus rubbed backwards and forwards till the impression of the engraving was transferred to the paper.
1837 Penny Cycl. IX. at Engraving A rubber is a roll of cloth tied up tight, one end being kept in olive oil.
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 400/2 Engravers use a roll of woollen or felt called a rubber, which is put in action with a little olive oil.
1860 R. Hunt Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 5) III. 502 It is..rubbed..afterwards with a rubber formed of rolled flannel.
d. More fully blackboard rubber, board rubber. An object used to erase chalk from a blackboard, usually consisting of a soft pad attached to a wooden handle; an eraser.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > scouring, scrubbing, or rubbing > [noun] > implement for scouring or scrubbing > rubber for blackboard
blackboard rubber1880
1880 L. S. Floyer Plain Hints Examiners Needlework 33 These three strips can be sewed..together, and thus form a dish-cloth or black-board rubber.
1908 Good Housek. Mar. 343/2 Take a piece of wood, the size of a blackboard rubber, [etc.].
1978 P. Marsh et al. Rules of Disorder ii. 38 They just started..chucking wooden dice at her..and blackboard rubbers.
2004 Independent (Compact ed.) 13 Apr. 25/5 Former pupils still make the effort to meet up every year, if only to discuss which teacher scored the most direct hits with a board rubber.
6. A large, coarse file, esp. one used for metalwork. In later use chiefly more fully rubber file.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > file > [noun] > coarse
rape1404
risp1511
rasp1541
rubber1678
rake1727
hack file1868
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. i. 14 The Rough or Course Tooth'd File (which if it be large is called a Rubber).
1771 Invoice 3 Dec. in G. Washington Papers (1993) VIII. 558 4 Smiths Rubber Files.
1837 J. Bennett in N. Whittock et al. Compl. Bk. Trades 225 The very heavy files, such as smiths' rubbers, are made of the inferior marks of blistered steel.
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 825 Rubbers..measure from 12 to 18 inches long,..and are made very convex.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1997/2 Rubber-file, a heavy, fish-bellied file, designated by weight, which varies from four to fifteen pounds.
1905 Dental Cosmos 47 1001/1 With a rubber file or any flat rough file, file the solder away outside the pins.
1916 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2 128 The tools required in metallurgy, as those for..shaping—hammer, file, rubbers, polishers.
2000 Modelling & Painting Figures 22 (caption) Begin the sanding with a rubber file.
7. A soft brick made from fine clay, the surface of which is polished smooth, chiefly used for ornamental and high-quality brickwork. Also more fully red rubber.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > brick made in specific way
semi-brick1601
place brick1621
clinker1659
rubbed brick1663
rubber1744
marl1812
bat1816
burr1823
wire-cut brick1839
place1843
wire-cut1910
rug brick1914
texture brick1940
1744 Daily Advertiser 17 May (advt.) All sorts of Bricks and Tile, viz...Red Rubbers.
1764 Gen. Mag. Arts & Sci. 14 339/2 The red bricks, or as they call them red-rubbers, used about doors, cornices &c. are made in a different manner.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 535 The best kind are used as cutting bricks, and are called red rubbers. In old buildings they are very frequently to be seen ground to a fine smooth surface.
1898 F. H. Oliphant in 19th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. Surv. 1897–8: Pt. 6 (Contd.) 407 A second kind, and one much used in London for fronts, is a large, light-red brick, so soft as to be readily scratched by the knife. These are called ‘rubbers’.
1910 Encycl. Brit. IV. 521/2 For cutting soft bricks, such as rubbers.., a frame saw with a blade of soft iron wire is used.
1944 W. Morgan in R. Greenhalgh Pract. Builder ix. 311/2 Rubbers are used for gauged arches, carvings, etc. Examples are Bracknell red rubbers, and Suffolk whites.
1997 T. Knight Creative Brickwork ii. 65/1 A few manufacturers make traditional ‘rubbers’ but they are somewhat costly and are used mainly for high quality restoration work.
8. A part of some apparatus which operates by rubbing; a machine which acts by rubbing. Formerly also: †a brake acting by friction on the wheels of a vehicle (obsolete). Also attributive, as rubber board, rubber carriage. Now rare.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > other specific machines > [noun]
reeler1598
driver1659
rubber1747
heading machine1795
bruiser1809
finisher1835
stripper1835
physionotype1836
rotary1836
tetraspaston1842
netting-machine1846
speeder1847
dresser1855
spacer1857
starcher1862
bronzing liquid, machine1865
finishing machine1869
grader1869
brain machine1872
peanut roaster1872
bending machine1874
screw-machine1876
tire-upsetting-machine1877
buncher?1881
flax-breaker1889
oscillator1889
fluoroscope1893
fluorometer1897
mucker1916
spray dryer1921
paver1926
teabagger1940
burster1950
icemaker1953
laminator1958
slipform (concrete) paver1958
extruder1959
Zamboni1965
manipulator1968
wave machine1968
pipelayer1969
walking machine1971
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > devices to retard or stop motion > brake or braking apparatus > types of
handbrake1841
rubber1850
air brake1857
disc brake1865
power brake1865
hydraulic brake1874
vacuum-brake1875
rim brake1876
drum brake1882
sand brakea1884
calliper brake1904
rheostatic brake1920
callipers1972
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 183/2 The surface of a non-electric rubber applied to the glass, and agitated by its motion, throws out its original electric matter upon the glass.
1771 Encycl. Brit. II. 475/1 The best rubbers for globes are made of red basil skins.
1788 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 78 22 A part of the rubber..must serve to furnish the electric fluid to the glass.
1818 Q. Jrnl. Sci. & Arts Jan. 340 The most essential part of this machine consists of the rubber boards.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 425/1 The rubber-carriage T being moved along the bar B [etc.].
1850 R. Glisan Jrnl. Army Life (1874) iv. 32 The third one [sc. vehicle], having no rubbers or brakes to the wheels, went so fast, down a steep hill, that the driver was thrown from his seat.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 171 Rubber, a gold-quartz amalgamator, in which the slime is rubbed against amalgamated copper surfaces.
1922 Gen. Electr. Rev. 25 419/1 It was this observation..which led to the use of mercury amalgams of tin or zinc as a facing for the rubbers on the cylinder.
1953 Brit. Patent 690,657 3/1 In another embodiment of the invention, normal working tools, such as grinding rubbers and polishing discs, are employed in combination with working rolls.
II. A person who rubs, and related uses.
9.
†a. A person who rubs in any way; spec. one who is employed to rub something, esp. for the purpose of smoothing or polishing. Also rubber off. Obsolete (in later use in specialized senses).
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > scouring, scrubbing, or rubbing > [noun] > one who scours or rubs
scourer1576
rubber1611
offscourer1860
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > worker performing process or spec. task > [noun] > who smooths, polishes, or flattens
polisher1552
rubber1611
flatter1714
flattener1741
French-polisher1825
planisher1858
?1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton i. sig. cviiiv They [sc. flatterers] been lyke rubbers whyche rubben the wylde oxen for to take them, For they rubben and clawe theyr heedes, to the ende that they may take and lede them to theyr dethe.
1589 in M. Wood & R. K. Hannay Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1927) V. 382 That na rubberis of meill be fund in the merkett under the payne of banesing.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Frotte-botte,..boot-rubber, maker of boots cleane.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 144 Some rubber of Horses heels.
1689 W. Salmon tr. Y. van Diemerbroeck Anat. Human Bodies i. 183/2 Those female Rubbers do not feel less Pleasure in that Coition, than Men in their Copulation with Emission of Seed.
1709 J. Addison Tatler No. 121. ⁋4 Grooms, Farriers, Rubbers, &c.
1729 Daily Courant 18 Apr. The Marquis De la Fare..sent his Postillion on an Errand, who recommending the Chaise to a Rubber, or Groom, went where he was ordered.
1775 J. Adams Diary 25 Oct. (1961) II. 218 Duane says that Jefferson is the greatest Rubber off of Dust that he has met with.
1820 J. H. Reynolds Fancy 98 He'll be no more a rubber Of wet sockets.
1860 C. Tomlinson Useful Arts & Manuf. II. 55 The welder and rubber; the rib forger.
1893 Times 14 Dec. 8/2 The adoption of the respirators..for mixers; the provision of gloves and aprons for rubbers.
1916 W. K. Schmidt Probl. Finishing Room xlviii. 260 Considerable practice is required before one can be an expert rubber.
b. A person who takes rubbings of brasses, gravestones, etc.brass-rubber: see brass n. Compounds 3.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > brass-rubbing > [noun] > person
rubber1840
brass-rubber1856
1840 C. H. Hartshorne Endeavour to classify Sepulchral Remains Northamptonshire 55 The earlier rubbers of Sepulchral Brasses acted too implicitly upon the aphorism ‘that there is nothing like leather’.
1861 Sat. Rev. 22 July 647 A zealous ‘rubber’..asking whether there were any ‘brasses’ in a church.
1897 T. Watts-Dunton Aylwin ii. ii My sudden enthusiasm for the rubber's art astonished even my father.
1908 Munsey's Mag. June 330/2 Expert rubbers never go over the edge of the brass.
1988 L. Strangstad Graveyard Preserv. Primer ii. 11 Much permanent damage is done each year to the many early graveyards regularly visited by rubbers.
10.
a. An attendant who performs massage at a steam bath, esp. a Turkish bath. Now chiefly historical.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing oneself or body > [noun] > bathing > place for bathing > bath-house > baths keeper or attendant > in Turkish baths
rubber1607
1607 J. Marston What you Will iii. sig. E4v I am his froterer or rubber in a Hot-house.
1680 London Gaz. No. 1556/4 Whereas the Proprietors of the Royal Bagno, are sensible that their Servants who attend Gentlemen, both Rubbers and Barbers, have been very troublesome.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 332. ⁋3 Some of those Fellows, who are employ'd as Rubbers to this new-fashioned Bagnio.
1759 J. Barrow New Geogr. Dict. I. at Aix It is celebrated for its hot baths, the use of which is free to every one, only giving a piece of money to the rubbers.
1881 Daily News 13 Apr. 2/2 When he married the prisoner she was a rubber at some Turkish baths.
1922 M. Nicholson Best laid Schemes 216 The man is nothing but a rubber in a Turkish bath.
1991 M. T. Williams Washing ‘Great Unwashed’ iv. 86 He had been a rubber in a Turkish bath.
b. A person who practises massage for therapeutic purposes; a masseur or masseuse; spec. (chiefly North American) a person who massages sports players or athletes.Masseur (or masseuse) is now the preferred term.
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the world > health and disease > healing > healer > paramedic > [noun] > manipulator > masseur or masseuse
rubber1616
strokera1637
strokesman1712
masser1787
shampooer1829
masseur1876
anma1877
masseuse1879
massager1889
massagist1889
massor1899
massotherapist1932
Rolfer1971
massage therapist1977
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > paramedic > [noun] > manipulator > masseur or masseuse > of sportsmen or athletes
rubber1895
1616 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Scornful Ladie i. sig. B1v Yonders Mistres Yongloue, brother, the graue rubber of your mistres toes.
1680–4 T. Dingley Hist. from Marble (1867) I. p. xliii A masculine sort of Bona roba Women which attend you at your lodgings and are called Rubbers.
1759 tr. M. -J. de Staal Mem. 165 Two Valets de Chambres, four Footmen, and even two Rubbers of her Highness's Apartment..were taken to the Bastile the same Day.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. III. 430 Long continued and daily friction by a skilful rubber.
1857 J. W. Carlyle New Lett. (1903) II. 139 Mr. Erskine wrote me strong regrets about your going so far away from his rubber, who he thinks was certainly doing George good.
1895 J. L. Williams Princeton Stories 185 Another sub and William, the negro rubber, picked Wormsey up.
1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 6 Apr. 9/5 A ‘rubber’ has been engaged by Manager Wattalet. Perhaps the use of such a term would shock the sensibilities of our ball players... It is a ‘masseur’, who has become attached to the Victoria baseball club.
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 14 Oct. 27/6 The schools have hired some of the best men in the training profession. Today, they are not just rubbers; they know anatomy, physiology and chemistry.
2004 A. M. Kaye Pussycat of Prizefighting iii. 84 Flowers was first employed as a sparring partner, porter, and rubber (masseur) in Miller's gym.
11. figurative. A rebuke, an irritating remark; a source of annoyance. Cf. rub n.1 6. Now English regional (Lancashire) and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of annoyance or vexation > [noun] > cause of annoyance or vexation
thornc1230
dreicha1275
painc1375
cumbrance1377
diseasec1386
a hair in one's necka1450
molestationc1460
incommodity?a1475
melancholya1475
ensoigne1477
annoyance1502
traik1513
incommode1518
corsie1548
eyesore1548
fashery1558
cross1573
spite1577
corrosive1578
wasp1588
cumber1589
infliction1590
gall1591
distaste1602
plague1604
rub1642
disaccommodation1645
disgust1654
annoyment1659
bogle1663
rubber1699
noyancea1715
chagrins1716
ruffle1718
fasha1796
nuisance1814
vex1815
drag1857
bugbear1880
nark1918
pain in the neck (also arse, bum, etc.)1933
sod1940
chizz1953
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > rebuke or reproof > [noun] > instance of
admonishingc1350
reproofc1400
fliting1435
rebuke?a1439
snibc1450
reprehensiona1500
redargution1514
remorda1529
piece of one's mind1536
check1541
snuba1556
rebuking1561
boba1566
sneap1600
snipping1601
reprimand1636
repriment1652
rubber1699
slap1736
twinkation1748
rap1777
throughgoing1817
dressing-down1823
downset1824
hazing1829
snubbing1841
downsetting1842
raking1852
calling1855
talking toc1875
rousting1900
strafe1915
strafing1915
raspberry1919
rousing1923
bottle1938
reaming1944
ticking-off1950
serve1967
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Rubbers,..Reflections made upon any one.
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 90 One or two Rubbers for such a horrid Negligence, makes him ever after look as sharp out to all Boats.
1786 J. Wolcot Bozzy & Piozzi 18 This, for the Rambler's temper, was a rubber.
1884 Ab-o'-th'-Yate, Oddlad 4 ‘Neaw I believe yo,’ I said, thinkin' I'd just slip one rubber in.
III. Senses relating to India rubber.
12.
a. Originally: India rubber, caoutchouc, esp. as used for erasing pencil marks. In later use more widely: any of a large range of polymeric organic materials, both natural and synthetic, used widely in manufacturing and having properties of elasticity, flexibility, and toughness typified by those of natural India rubber; (with plural) a particular material of this kind.Natural rubber is the coagulated latex of certain trees, esp. Hevea brasiliensis (see rubber tree n.), and consists essentially of long-chain polymers of the hydrocarbon isoprene. Vulcanization and other curing processes improve the physical properties of rubber by introducing cross-linking between the polymer chains. Some synthetic rubbers are chemically similar to natural rubber; other kinds are based on different substances such as silicones. See also notes at India rubber n. 1, caoutchouc n. 1. Cf. Indian rubber n.butyl, crêpe, methyl, Para, patent, sponge rubber, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > rubber > [noun]
caoutchouc1775
rubber1776
Indian rubber1783
gum elastic1803
India rubber1812
natural rubber1862
latex1900
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > synthetic resins and plastics > [noun] > synthetic rubber
artificial rubber1847
synthetic rubber1906
rubber1912
elastomer1939
1776 Selector No. 2. 51 In this country it is chiefly used in drawing for erasing the strokes of black-lead pencils, and is generally called rubber and lead-eater.
1837 W. E. Burton Burton's Comic Songster 37 O! The rubber, the patent rubber; the wonderful Indian rubber.
1855 J. Scoffern in Orr's Circle Sci.: Elem. Chem. 356 The mouth-pieces..are elongated tubes of vulcanized rubber.
1879 G. B. Prescott Speaking Telephone (new ed.) 22 The diaphragms are placed on opposite sides of a short cylindrical piece of hard rubber.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 295 The pure rubber, when it is made, looks like putty.
1910 Westm. Gaz. 20 Apr. 4/1 Landolphias, woody climbers,..yield the African rubbers.
1912 Jrnl. Soc. Chem. Industry 15 July 617/1 There can now be no doubt that rubber may actually be obtained synthetically by the polymerisation of isoprene and its homologues and that the synthetic product is really rubber and strictly comparable with natural rubbers.
1961 L. Mumford City in Hist. (1966) xv. 545 The new régime was based on..new synthetic materials, like rubber, bakelite, and the plastics.
1992 Marine Engineers Rev. Nov. 28/1 Ammonia with trace water attacks copper, zinc, tin,..and also many rubbers and plastics.
2002 Best of British Nov. 59/2 On rainy days, we had to..wear a Mac. This was a real Mackintosh—rubber on the outside and cotton inside.
b. In similative and figurative contexts, esp. with reference to the elasticity or flexibility of rubber.
ΚΠ
1853 Hartford (Connecticut) Daily Courant 25 Aug. A friend who will stick like a Burr and give like Rubber.
1904 Profits 20 Feb. 6/1 A young lady the other day put her foot up on a box to tie her shoe, and two young men who were passing turned to rubber.
1941 C. Beaton Diary Apr. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xi. 86 A tough-looking little runt from Lancashire with a face that screws up like rubber when he smiles.
1972 G. M. Brown Greenvoe (1976) ii. 44 I went into the piss-house..and I met you wallowing against the wall with your legs like rubber.
1999 Linedancer Jan. 75/1 The truth is most of us aren't made of rubber and luck had it that last year's dances..were high energy and fun.
2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic ix. 120 Her cheeks felt cold as wet rubber.
13. A piece of India rubber for erasing pencil or ink marks; an eraser. In later use also: an eraser made of another (esp. synthetic) substance.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > [noun] > device for erasing > rubber
rubber1779
Indian rubber?1780
India rubber1784
ink-eraser1881
bungee1928
1779 E. Shiercliff At Shiercliff's Circulating-Libr. Items Sold 2 Drawing and Painting Materials..Gum Elastic Rubbers.
1815 G. Soane Peasant of Lucern 87 So forth from his breeches of velvet he took His pencil, and rubber, and little sketch-book.
1848 H. Barnard School Archit. 208 Each scholar is to provide himself with a convenient box to contain his pen, pen-wiper, pencils, rubber, &c.
1897 Freeman's Jrnl. (Dublin) 5 June 5/10 Hand out the drawing books, just the same as you would..the pencils and rubbers and measures.
1907 A. E. Zapf Cycl. Drawing I. 14 In making drawings, but little erasing should be necessary. However, in case this is necessary, a soft rubber should be used.
1968 F. G. Holliday Man. Stationery v. 113 Erasers are often called ‘rubbers’, but today a surprisingly small proportion of them actually consists of rubber.
1998 R. J. Green Cuckoos ix. 88 John took Sam's rubber back to his place and began a frantic rubbing out of his own smudged and scruffy spellings.
14.
a. In plural.
(a) Originally U.S. Overshoes or galoshes made of rubber.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > overshoe > types of > shoes
rubbers1834
Arctic1868
1834 Daily Atlas (Boston) 14 Oct. (advt.) Boots, shoes, and rubbers.
1842 Southern Literary Messenger 8 516/2 The younkers who would go ‘a Maying’, very prudently provided themselves with rubbers and tippets before encountering the rough southeaster.
1856 S. Robinson Kansas xii. 160 The snows..are fast melting, and mingling with the clayey soil. So, besides the burden of rubbers, one has to carry no little portion of the native earth.
1884 Lisbon (Dakota Territory) Star 10 Oct. Boots, shoes and rubbers in great variety and at rock-bottom prices.
1904 Daily Chron. 4 Jan. 5/2 In America ‘rubbers’ are worn almost universally in wet..weather.
1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris (U.K. ed.) iii. 53 An umbrella rack with a porcelain tray for rubbers.
1974 M. Z. Lewin Enemies Within iv. 17 Snow made it look beautiful. I put on my rubbers and walked around.
2002 Guardian (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) (Nexis) 3 Dec. 18 I was wearing just low rubbers over my shoes and there was a low ground drift across the road.
(b) Mountaineering and Rock Climbing. Soft, rubber-soled shoes worn for climbing. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > made from specific material > canvas > shoes
rubbers1925
tennies1969
1925 Jrnl. Fell & Rock Climbing Club 7 12 Arrowhead Ridge..Leader needs about 60 feet of rope. Rubbers.
1933 G. D. Abraham Mod. Mountaineering v. 107 Rubbers are usually used, but I have also made the ascent in nailed boots, and in either footgear dry rocks are advisable.
1941 C. F. Kirkus Let's go Climbing! vi. 95 A climb of such difficulty is not done in boots, but in rubbers. These are ordinary plimsolls or gym shoes.
1968 P. Crew Encycl. Dict. Mountaineering 103/2 With the advent of P.A.'s and similar footwear, and their widespread use in Britain, the use of rubbers has diminished considerably.
1999 A. H. Griffin Coniston Tigers (2000) iii. 41 With just the rope and our nails or rubbers, climbing was a far less complicated business in the 1930s.
b. Originally U.S.
(a) A rubber tyre for a wheel. Also as a mass noun: the tyres of a vehicle collectively. Also in extended use: a car.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > wheel > rubber or pneumatic tyre
rubber1875
tyre1875
tirea1877
pneumatic1890
cushion1891
cushion-tire1891
pneu1891
solid tyre1891
balloon tyre1899
single-tube1904
tubular tyre1908
shoe1917
solid1919
tubular1924
air wheel1930
skin1954
tub1978
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor car > [noun] > American car
rubber1945
Yank1959
1875 Eng. Mechanic & World of Sci. 1 Oct. 80/2 A thick tire must add to the weight of the machine, but it no doubt takes away a deal of the vibration... Are there any machines fitted with 1¼in. rubbers?
1882 Bazaar, Exchange & Mart 15 Feb. 174 The wheels are of ordinary construction, red rubbers, crescent rims,..&c.
1921 Pop. Mech. Mag. June (Advertising section) 34/2 (advt.) Twin Indian, fine condition, New Rubbers.
1945 L. Shelly Hepcats Jive Talk Dict. 16/2 Rubber,..an automobile.
1953 H. G. Felsen Street Rod iv. 85 I'll road test her for you after we get new rubber on.
1965 Malcolm X Autobiogr. iv. 69 At sixteen, I didn't have the money to buy a Cadillac, but she had her own fine ‘rubber’, as we called a car in those days.
1975 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Tribune 5 July b9/4 (advt.) 1974 T-Bird, loaded, brand new set of rubbers.
2008 Sunday Tel. (Austral.) (Nexis) 15 June 25 A Porsche Cayenne on decent rubber is a fair off-road rally machine.
(b) to burn (also lay down) rubber and variants: to wear down the tyres of a vehicle, or leave tyre marks on a road surface, by rapid acceleration or deceleration; (hence) to drive at high speed.
ΚΠ
1916 Los Angeles Times 22 Dec. iii. 2/4 Wilbur D'Alene..has not yet burned up a lot of practice rubber at the speedway.
1921 Sunset Apr. 33/3 The driver may burn rubber for ten yards and yet have to endure the soul-sickening experience of running down and maiming or slaying one of that merry little party.
1942 ‘S. Sterling’ Kindly Omit Flowers in Black Mask Mar. 112/1 ‘We'll have to burn rubber to make it.’.. The department sedan zoomed over to Park and Thirty-fourth.
1951 Western Folklore 10 248 To lay rubber, to spin the rear tires so as to make a squeal, at the same time to leave a streak of rubber on the pavement.
1976 N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone iv. 91 The huddled figure..going round the car and out of sight for a few moments and then back into it almost immediately and laying down rubber again.
2001 M. Blake 24 Karat Schmooze xvi. 295 Two Squad cars burnt rubber and screamed to a halt by the gates.
c. Clothing made wholly or partly of rubber. In later use often with erotic or fetishistic overtones, and hence used euphemistically of sadomasochistic desires or practices. Cf. rubber fetishism n. at Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > other
disguise1340
disguisingc1386
shiftc1570
French cut1606
knaverya1616
small clothes1625
small storesa1643
nugging-dress1699
kilting1721
fancy dress1770
under-habit1772
man-millinery1790
sheen1802
costume1818
ingubu1833
bedizenment1837
tat1839
extravaganza1860
rational dress1873
rubber1876
pearly1890
new look1920
collection1921
Daks1933
smart casual1943
separates1945
trapeze1958
Carnaby Street1965
haute boutique1966
kinderwhore1994
1876 Trans. Clin. Soc. London 9 172 He began wearing rubber on May 13. Complete suit and cap on scalp.
1893 W. M. L. Coplin & D. Bevan Man. Pract. Hygiene iii. 101 It is better for the soldier to get wet than to wear rubber.
1966 Realist May 19/3 Remember the S-M ads: ‘seeks discipline’, ‘seeks uniforms’, ‘seeks leather and rubber’.
1993 Time Out 31 Mar. 84/4 Cruisey gay men's club with strict dress code of black leather, rubber and uniform.
2004 Gay Times Feb. 191/2 (advt.) Must be 45 plus, be into leather, rubber, waders and more sub dom fun by genuine guy.
d. Baseball.
(a) The home plate. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > baseball ground > [noun] > slab marking home base
home1845
home base1855
plate1867
home plate1869
rubber1889
pan1891
platter1892
1885 De Witt's Base-ball Guide 23 The National League Rules for the present season substitute ‘white rubber’ for white marble or stone as the material for the home base.]
1889 World 20 Aug. 1 Dan didn't think the next one was over the rubber, but umpire McQuaid said it was.
1910 O. Johnson Humming Bird v. 54 In the breakaway Tyrell, the first to dust the rubber for the Chaperons, selected a hole in the circumambient and poked a buzzer over short.
1950 A. Daley Times at Bat 106 He hit the first pitch a mile... Still seething inwardly he crossed the rubber and returned to the dugout.
(b) The pitcher's plate.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > baseball ground > [noun] > station of pitcher
point1860
pitcher's box1883
rubber1895
mound1903
1895 Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 2 Oct. 9/3 Twirler Magee once more tried to ‘make good’, in a pitching sense, but..he was put out of the running, and Billy Dineen sent to the rubber.
1919 Chicago Tribune 12 Apr. 19/2 An unfairly delivered ball is a ball delivered by the pitcher to the batsman with the bases unoccupied, while no foot is in contact with the rubber.
1975 New Yorker 14 Apr. 92/2 Seaver, too, restored memory—the cold, intelligent gaze; the unwasteful windup; the sudden forward, down-dropping stride off the rubber.
2005 Windsor (Ontario) Star (Nexis) 20 May b2 The left-hander used to put just the toe of his left foot on the right side of the rubber when beginning his delivery.
e. slang (chiefly North American). A condom. Cf. rubber johnny n. at Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > contraception or birth control > [noun] > a contraceptive > condom
condom?1706
armour1708
machine1749
protective1827
French letter?1844
sheath1861
French safe1868
letterc1890
rubber1913
Durex1932
prophylactic1934
raincoat1934
male condom1938
Trojan1951
safety1952
safe1959
Frenchy1963
scumbag1967
internal condom1969
franger1975
dicksack1996
1913 Southwestern Rep. 153 151/1 I did not tell him about Hogue leaving a rubber there on the floor of our house... I don't know whether it had been used or not.
1920 Pacific Reporter 184 790/2 He always used ‘rubbers’, and said he used them to prevent babies from coming.
1968 B. Turner Sex Trap viii. 53 I need more rubbers. There's only enough for about a couple of good days left.
1992 J. Mowry Way Past Cool 33 Jesus, ain't you learned nuthin yet cept how to slide on a rubber?

Phrases

U.S. colloquial. where the rubber meets the road and variants: where the important facts or realities lie; where theory is put into practice.
ΚΠ
1956 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Herald 29 May 9/3 Stylized phrases that trademark advertising men... How much is it going to cost?: ‘Let's get down to where the rubber meets the road.’
1973 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 10 May d1/4 Often, when the rubber meets the road, it kind of backs down.
1988 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 88 1459/1 The difference, though, is that nurses work ‘where the rubber hits the road’.
1999 E. Larsen in O. J. Morgan & M. R. Jordan Addiction & Spirituality viii. 167 Where the rubber hits the highway is when these issues get triggered in a concrete, here and now situation.
2010 C. Smith In Arms of Evil 209 We're now at the point where the rubber meets the road, because here's the court's ruling.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
ΚΠ
1849 Boston Courier 29 Jan. The machinery employed in the rubber works was either destroyed or damaged.
1857 D. P. Kidder & J. C. Fletcher Brazil & Brazilians App. h. 619 She [sc. Brazil] is rivalling us in the rubber-trade.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1998/1 Rubber gage, knife, mould, saw.
1887 C. A. Moloney Sketch Forestry W. Afr. 92 The rubber industry is in its infancy as regards Her Majesty's Possessions on the Gambia.
1900 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Feb. 8/3 A rubber plantation in Tobago.
1911 C. Christy Afr. Rubber Ind. xvii. 232 There are hundreds of materials called rubber substitutes..but these are not artificial rubbers.
1967 G. Freeman Undergrowth of Lit. x. 152 To the rubber addict ‘slimwear’ is a key word.
1990 Financial Post (Canada) (Nexis) 26 July 19 Among the list of sectoral decliners were railway, warehouse, mining, non-life insurance, oil and rubber issues.
2005 P. Allen tr. A. Utami Saman 78 They were beaten up for stealing latex from the rubber company.
C2.
a. With the sense ‘made of or consisting of rubber’ (whether natural or synthetic). Cf. sense 12a. N.E.D (1910) notes: ‘In very common use from about 1875.’In early use equivalent compounds were often formed with India rubber as the first element (see India rubber n. Compounds 1b). Many also have earlier counterparts in Indian rubber (see Indian rubber n.).
rubber apron n.
ΚΠ
1836 St. Louis Commerc. Bull. & Missouri Lit. Reg. 18 July (advt.) Received a few dozen Rubber Aprons.
1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 10 Jan. 7/1 (advt.) Women's rubber aprons. Save your frocks and save your laundry bills, too.
2009 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 9 June 27 It is the workers—standing proud in their gumboots, fluoro vests and rubber aprons—who are the real characters.
rubber bag n.
ΚΠ
1850 J. C. Booth Encycl. Chem. 411/1 Sheets of caoutchouc, parts of rubber bags, are cut into continuous threads by highly ingenious machines.
1902 Good Housek. Jan. 36/2 Never fold a rubber bag after it has been once used.
2002 M. J. Gerber Botticelli Blue Skies 110 We get under the covers with the rubber bag between us.
rubber bed n.
ΚΠ
1849 N. Kingsley Diary 26 Oct. (1914) 78 Some of the fellows went in swimming this afternoon by takeing rubber beds.
1936 Times 25 Apr. 7/3 Had they, for example, considered how comfortable was a rubber bed?
2009 Welland (Ontario) Tribune (Nexis) 5 May a1 The family spent the first night sleeping on a ‘tiny little rubber bed’ in the hospital.
rubber boat n.
ΚΠ
1864 ‘O. Optic’ In School & Out xx. 272 They reached the water without being discovered, and embarked in the rubber boat.
1943 J. B. Priestley Daylight on Sat. xxix. 219 Sometimes they got into little rubber boats and so weren't found for a day or two.
2005 C. Cleave Incendiary 165 It was only a small rubber boat with 2 coppers in short-sleeve shirts.
rubber bone n.
ΚΠ
1881 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 5 Feb. 4/5 Milk and water as a diet and rubber bones for the back will not do.
1949 N. Streatfeild Painted Garden v. 48 His spare collar and lead, his water bowl, his rubber bone.
1993 A. Higgins Lions of Grunewald vi. 41 On the floor the dog-baskets and rubber play-biscuits and rubber bones for Grete Weiser's miniature Yorkies.
rubber boot n.
ΚΠ
1846 Boston Daily Atlas 15 July (advt.) For the sale of their entirely new and improved spring tempered metallic Rubber Boots and Shoes by the case.
1975 Ecology 56 538/1 In very dry years the whole bog surface..may be dry enough to walk on without rubber boots.
2005 N.Y. Times 17 Apr. 12/1 Health workers encased in masks,..rubberized aprons and rubber boots.
rubber clothing n.
ΚΠ
1851 U.S. Post-Office Guide App. 13 (advt.) Seamen's, Soldiers' and Citizens' Rubber Clothing.
1967 G. Freeman Undergrowth of Lit. x. 151 Talcum powder is also useful to apply to the body before squeezing into rubber clothing.
2009 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 7 Mar. 24 Ms Davidson's auspicious part in all this was running a unit selling designer rubber clothing.
rubber coat n.
ΚΠ
1845 A. M. Edmond Broken Vow 189 He doffs the frightful rubber coat, That darkly shrouds his form.
a1918 G. Stuart 40 Years on Frontier (1925) I. 69 Rubber coats and shoes were unknown at that time.
2009 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. (Nexis) 22 June 1 Firefighting clothing is far more than a rubber coat and the familiar fireman's helmet these days.
rubber garment n.
ΚΠ
1854 E. S. Capron Hist. Calif. iv. iv. 340 During my transit from ‘ship to shore’, some thievish native rascal purloined my rubber garments.
1967 G. Freeman Undergrowth of Lit. x. 152 There is a wide belief among women that sweating in rubber garments makes them slim.
2003 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 22 June 5/3 A robust sex life that included..a 27-year relationship with a man that centered on spanking and rubber garments.
rubber glove n.
ΚΠ
1851 Mississippian State Gaz. 19 Sept. (advt.) Rubber Gloves, Steel Bands and Amulets.
1932 E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon xii. 138 The doctor..picked up the pistol in his rubber gloves.
2002 Guardian 7 Dec. (Review section) 10/2 Instructions..on home-made fermented shrimp paste: rubber gloves essential.
rubber hose n.
ΚΠ
1830 Microcosm (Providence, Rhode Island) 4 June (advt) Rubber hose.
1939 N.Y. Sunday News 4 June 68/3 What do you think, they're using a rubber hose on her? Piffle!
2001 A. M. Jones Last Year's River xxxvi. 116 A rubber hose running from the kitchen sink to the riverbank regurgitates fans of soapy dishwater three times a day.
rubber nozzle n.
ΚΠ
1866 Chicago Med. Examiner 7 552 A gum elastic tube three feet in length, to one end of which is attached a hard rubber nozzle.
1929 Pop. Mech. Oct. 702/1 The air is admitted to the can by means of a cone-shaped rubber nozzle.
2008 Telegraph-Jrnl. (St. John, New Brunswick) (Nexis) 16 Aug. f3 Turn the knob clockwise and paste is dispensed though the rubber nozzle on the bristle head.
rubber pants n.
ΚΠ
1856 Trans. State Agric. Soc Michigan 7 138 2 pair rubber pants.
1936 F. M. Ford Let. 6 Sept. (1965) 261 She [sc. Pennsylvania] led the Universe in the production of rubber pants.
1998 Viz Aug.–Sept. 39/3 I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to wear these big reinforced rubber pants.
rubber sheeting n.
ΚΠ
1854 Ann. Rep. State Reform School Westborough 14 Rubber Sheeting... $8.44.
1965 M. Thomas Grannies' Remedies 16 Another..poultice is a piece of soft thick sheet-lint..squeezed out in hot water, and laid over the part, covered with a larger piece of thin rubber-sheeting.
2009 Scunthorpe Evening Tel. (Nexis) 30 May 6 We trade all over the UK and even export rubber sheeting to Iceland.
rubber shoddy n.
ΚΠ
1886 Finance & Industry: N.Y. Stock Exchange 182/2 The firm are extensive manufacturers of rubber shoddy and reclaimed rubber.
1907 Sci. Amer. 5 Oct. 240/2 Scrap rubber, or rubber ‘shoddy’ as it is called, is made up principally of worn-out boots and shoes.
2000 2000 Emergency Response Guidebook 168/1 Rubber shoddy, powdered or granulated.
rubber shoe n.
ΚΠ
1828 Boston Courier 21 Aug. (advt.) A prime lot of 300 pairs Rubber Shoes—just received and for sale.
1931 M. Allingham Look to Lady xvii. 178 They heard the soft scrape of his rubber shoes on the bole of the tree.
2007 Portland (Maine) Press Herald (Nexis) 1 Apr. g1 The rubber shoes were listed..as one of the hot ugly-but-hip items for spring.
rubber sole n.
ΚΠ
1842 Boston (Mass.) Herald 29 Aug. (advt.) Rubber Soles cemented upon the bottoms of Boots and Shoes is found to be the most complete way of keeping the feet dry.
1901 E. W. Hornung Black Mask vi. 112 There had been no warning step..and my suspicious eye had searched his feet for rubber soles.
2008 Play: N.Y. Times Sports Mag. June 32/5 A remarkably thin rubber sole hugs the contours of your foot.
rubber stopper n.
ΚΠ
1860 Repertory Patent Inventions 35 359 The rubber stoppers or packing..are removed from underneath the lower orifices of the moulds.
1922 T. M. Lowry Inorg. Chem. ii. 17 The funnel is inserted into the neck of a strong conical flask, a rubber stopper being used to make a tight joint.
2002 Spin-off Winter 52/3 Place a tiny rubber stopper like the ones that prevent pierced earrings from slipping off on the end of the hook.
rubber suit n.
ΚΠ
1856 Ann. Rep. Expenditures City of Manch. (New Hampsh.) 150 14 Hosemen's Rubber Suits.
1948 H. Innes Blue Ice viii. 205 Sweating underwater in a rubber suit.
2006 Wired July 56/1 Spotting the man inside the rubber suit in Godzilla..is half the fun.
rubber tyre n.
ΚΠ
1850 Times 4 Sept. 1/5 Whenever the prejudice against the durability of the rubber tyres is overcome they must be in universal demand.
1872 Carriage Builder's Gaz. 1 Mar. 40/1 A wheel with a rubber tire upon it.
2003 Mail on Sunday (Nexis) 8 June 87 The children were shrieking and rolling rubber tyres around the playground.
rubber truncheon n.
ΚΠ
1917 O. Halasi Belgium under German Heel 13 One meets a Belgian policeman, with his rubber truncheon and English-looking helmet, pacing the sidewalk.
1959 J. Braine Vodi iv. 69 They beat him up with rubber truncheons. The marks don't show.
1991 R. Reiner Chief Constables iii. vii. 147 People obviously imagine all sorts of things happening, from rubber truncheons to bright lights and all the rest of it.
rubber tubing n.
ΚΠ
1854 Manch. Examiner & Times 11 Feb. 8/2 Packing Canvas, Solid Rubber Tubing, Delivery Hose, [etc.].
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 733/1 The rubber tubing..is a great convenience.
1997 D. Rushkoff in S. Champion Disco Biscuits 201 About a month later..Henry fashioned a bong out of Lego and rubber tubing.
b. Objective with agent nouns.
rubber collector n.
ΚΠ
1869 Jrnl. Bot., Brit. & Foreign 7 279 The creeper which the Rubber collectors use for thickening the milky juice of the trees.
1916 Geogr. Rev. 1 184 One of his tribe had been shot to death by our people, probably by a rubber collector farther down the river.
2004 Times (Nexis) 9 Jan. 30 Some became rubber collectors and even goldminers.
rubber gatherer n.
ΚΠ
1856 Illustr. Descriptive Catal. India Rubber & Gutta Percha Goods 3 The ‘Seringero’, or rubber gatherer, then empties the contents of the cups into an earthen vessel.
1911 H. C. Pearson Rubber Country Amazon ix. 65 The rubber gatherers do not waste effort.
2003 Compar. Stud. Society & Hist. 45 342 A jute worker in India, or a rubber gatherer in the Congo.
rubber hunter n.
ΚΠ
1871 Nature 13 July 207/1 The rubber hunters are termed Uleros (Ule being the Creole term for rubber).
1914 T. Roosevelt Through Brazilian Wilderness 359 For meat the rubber hunter and explorer depends upon his rifle and fish-hook.
1999 St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press (Nexis) 4 Dec. b1 Tormented by the guerrillas, the rubber hunters and the drug cartels.
rubber planter n.
ΚΠ
1883 Bookseller 4 May 401/1 The book is preliminary to the ‘Ceylon Rubber Planters' Manual’, which the publishers..have in hand.
1937 Discovery May 143/2 The rubber planter uses coconut shells for collecting the raw latex from his trees.
2005 T. Aw Harmony Silk Factory i. v. 43 She was the mistress of a rubber planter in the valley.
rubber tapper n.
ΚΠ
1893 Board of Trade Jrnl. Jan. 92 Forests on the frontier are over-run with foreign rubber tappers, who come down..and tap nearly all the trees.
1935 Manch. Guardian 9 Oct. 5/5 The rubber tappers are cruelly misused by those who employ them.
1992 A. Gore Earth in Balance xiv. 285 Mendes organized and led the seringueiros (rubber tappers), who harvest the renewable bounty of the rain forest..by tapping the rubber trees.
2012 T. T. Eng Garden of Evening Mists iii. 39 The police once caught a rubber-tapper smuggling sugar out of his village.
c. Objective with verbal nouns and participles.
rubber collecting n.
ΚΠ
1872 H. A. Wickham Rough Notes of Journey from Trinidad to Pará i. viii. 124 They keep these peons..constantly at work, chiquichiqui (piassava) cutting, rubber-collecting, or boat-building.
1910 Blackwood's Mag. May 729/1 Rubber-collecting is less laborious, but takes you into dangerous parts.
2002 L. M. Rival Trekking through Hist. ii. 36 The multiethnic peonadas engaged in the mixed economy of rubber collecting, farming, and gold panning.
rubber-cutting adj.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1997/2 Rubber-cutting Machine, a machine for making threads of caoutchouc for shirrs.
2008 European Rubber Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 Mar. 24 Products:..tyre moulds, mould closing systems, rubber cutting tools.
rubber-growing adj.
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1878 T. Christy New Commerc. Plants iv. Pref. 3 If this variety is well cultivated in Ceylon and other rubber growing countries,..its returns will rival with those of other rubbers.
1918 Exper. Station Rec. (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 38 854 Conditions for the spread of fungus diseases are said to be more favorable..in Malaya than in any other rubber growing region.
2004 N. J. White Brit. Business in Post-Colonial Malaysia ii. 74 Griffith-Jones reported..that Guthries and other rubber-growing groups were ‘running into rather rough weather’.
rubber-producing adj.
ΚΠ
1874 F. Keller Amazon & Madeira Rivers v. 98 Brazil..takes the first place among the rubber-producing countries.
1931 Pop. Sci. Monthly July 18 (caption) This rubber producing shrub, guayule, grows wild.
2002 D. McBride Missions for Sci. ii. vi. 169 Japan had captured control of rubber-producing nations in the Far East.
rubber tapping n.
ΚΠ
1878 G. Mann Progress Rep. Forest Admin. Province of Assam 1877–78 iii. 34 Although Rubber-tapping was prohibited, it could not be prevented by the district authorities in the extensive forests.
1944 Economica 11 197 Rubber tapping is generally believed to be the least exacting form of work in tropical agriculture.
2009 Washington Post (Nexis) 10 Nov. (Health section) 3 The native forest-dwellers began to be displaced, and newcomers started clearing large areas for cattle production and rubber tapping.
rubber-yielding adj.
ΚΠ
1870 J. De V. Drummond-Hay Rep. Industr. Classes in H. A. Wickham Rough Notes of Journey from Trinidad to Pará (1872) App. 295 The rubber-yielding portion is calculated by walks leading from tree to tree.
1928 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 124/2 The U.S. Department of Agriculture..has cultivated more than a score of rubber-yielding plants.
2000 F. Barclay & F. Santos-Granero Tamed Frontiers i. ii. 25 It is possible to find individuals of all four rubber-yielding species in a relatively small area.
d. Instrumental and parasynthetic.
rubber-boned adj.
ΚΠ
1905 Condor 7 166 Their [sc. young cormorants'] bodies seem to be built rubber-boned and rubber-jointed.
1958 New Statesman 22 Feb. 227/2 Especially fantastic is the dance of a rubber-boned neighbour (Stephen Preston).
2009 Gold Coast Bull. (Nexis) 2 Sept. 14 These girls think nothing of twisting their rubber-boned bodies into pretzels.
rubber-booted adj.
ΚΠ
1858 Harvard Mag. May 169 You will hear these tarpaulined, rubber-booted, shawl-bound mummies, as they splash along to prayers.
1943 J. W. Day Farming Adventure xx. 228 I dined and went down to the quay, oil-skinned and rubber-booted.
2005 Welland (Ontario) Tribune (Nexis) 28 May a3 Niagara Restoration Council is looking for some rubber-booted friends to help plant trees.
rubber-caped adj.
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1935 W. Cather Lucy Gayheart i. ix. 75 When the rubber-caped boy was gone, Lucy stood looking at the yellow envelope.
2008 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 27 July 58 The rubber-caped vigilante [sc. Batman] is in it, for sure, more monolithic than ever.
rubber-coated adj.
ΚΠ
1856 Illustr. Descriptive Catal. India Rubber & Gutta Percha Goods 49 Felted Sponge, with a rubber-coated back, adapted to the purpose of confining the perspiration, irritating the surface, blistering, &c.
1959 Chambers's Encycl. XII. 30/2 Some of the earliest known products of rubber, observed in Brazil, shoes and rubber-coated garments for example, possessed these faults.
2003 Amer. Photo July–Aug. 22/1 The secret is a patented zipper design and rubber-coated nylon drypod.
rubber-cored adj.
ΚΠ
1892 C. B. Fairchild Street Railways Index 433/3 Springs..Rubber cored.
1929 W. Deeping Roper's Row xxxv. 398 Sillocks was a golf maniac, and went from Rye to Hoylake..smiting a rubber-cored ball.
1999 E. F. Stanton Handbk. Spanish Pop. Culture v. 116 By mid-century a rubber-cored ball replaced the primitive sphere made from animal hair and skin.
rubber-covered adj.
ΚΠ
1863 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 3rd Ser. 45 140 The journals of two rubber-covered rollers turn in the opposite sides of the reservoir.
1897 Outing 30 370/1 Strapping my rubber-covered roll on the handle-bars, I was ready to start.
2000 N.Y. Times 6 Apr. g3/1 The flexible, rubber-covered keyboard resembles a no-slip bathmat.
rubber-cushioned adj.
ΚΠ
1867 Atlantic Monthly Apr. (verso title page) (advt.) All of its [sc. a game] appointments—rubber-cushioned Reflectors and Centrepiece, Pins,..&c.—are most ingeniously contrived.
1933 Pop. Mech. Aug. 309 (heading) Rubber-Cushioned Floor Absorbs Vibration.
1990 PIC July 4/2 (advt.) The CT15 has..a rubber cushioned foot and can be used on any ground surface.
rubber-faced adj.
ΚΠ
1866 Ladies Repository Mar. 190/1 Her china-headed favorites, [sc. dolls] Miss Prissy and Florence, are sitting before her..while the rubber-faced Topsy reclines upon an ottoman near by.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 803/2 The required thickness of the spread sheet is very often secured by the rubber-faced surfaces of two cloths being united before curing.
1965 F. Sargeson Mem. Peon vii. 241 It was more as though he aimed at captivating me with his abilities as a rubber-faced comedian.
2004 W. St. John Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer 160 A rubber-faced man named Dan, a member of Donnie's pack, has been sent to rescue us.
rubber-gloved adj.
ΚΠ
1889 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 9 Dec. 5/1 Grasping the death flesh with my rubber-gloved hands, [I] tore it aside like a madman.
1956 P. Scott Male Child ii. vii. 174 Handled by sterilized, rubber-gloved hands.
2009 Toronto Star (Nexis) 2 Apr. t4 The rubber-gloved tourists dragged vast amounts of ore to the sluice.
rubber-insulated adj.
ΚΠ
1865 Boston Daily Advertiser 4 July The common rubber insulated wire.
1928 Pop. Mech. May 837 (caption) Details of Rubber-Insulated Test Rod.
2000 P. Scherz Pract. Electronics for Inventors iii. 59 For rubber-insulated wire, the allowable current should be reduced by 30 percent.
rubber-jointed adj.
ΚΠ
1875 Appleton's Jrnl. 24 Apr. 540/3 A series of bell-levers operating on rubber-jointed tubes, the upper extremities of which terminated in gas-jets.
1934 J. A. Lee Children of Poor (1949) 200 People go to the circus to see the rubber-jointed wonder.
2008 Las Vegas Rev.-Jrnl. (Nexis) 15 June b2 Scantily-clad dancers, rubber-jointed contortionists and a carefully choreographed parade of flesh.
rubber-legged adj.
ΚΠ
1921 F. O'Brien Mystic Isles of S. Seas xiii. 249 Within a month of the rubber-legged shiner's debut, there were two other boot-blacks on the streets.
1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep i. 15 I caught her under her arms and she went rubber-legged on me instantly.
2001 L. Hillenbrand Seabiscuit v. 71 It is common for aspiring jockeys to be so rubber-legged upon dismounting..that they are unable to walk.
rubber-lined adj.
ΚΠ
1844 Cleveland (Ohio) Herald 27 Sept. (advt.) Patent Rubber lined Buskins, sheet rubber sandals and fur bound and lined Rubbers.]
1852 Gen. Catal. Pumping Machinery 47 Rubber-Lined Cotton Hose.
1897 Earl of Suffolk et al. Encycl. Sport I. 284/1 The flap and the rubber-lined inside of the jacket..are anointed with soft soap.
1994 Sci. Amer. May 58/2 The mud flows in cavities between a spiral-fluted, steel rotor and a rubber-lined stator.
rubber-lipped adj.
ΚΠ
1901 Musical Herald 1 Aug. 250/1 A rubber lipped mouthpiece is what you require.
1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 180 Once, I affectionately imitated her pout; she veered away in pained bewilderment, so I changed it to an imitation of rubber-lipped Norman.
1999 Angling Times 16 June 41 (caption) Jerseyman Jack, from St Helier, tempted the rubber-lipped beauty while fishing an East coast mark.
rubber-mounted adj.
ΚΠ
1858 Misc. Doc. U.S. Senate III. No. 150. 62 3 gross rubber mounted penholders, at $4.50.
1947 J. G. Crowther & R. Whiddington Sci. at War iv. 166 A rubber-mounted dome was found.
2009 Canberra Times (Nexis) 5 Sept. a4 The low-frequency shudder of a rubber-mounted body moving on its separate chassis.
rubber-mouthed adj.
ΚΠ
1880 Daily Arkansas Gaz. (Little Rock, Arkansas) 30 June 8/2 He will sell you anything, from a cradle (or a rubber-mouthed bottle) to a coffin.
1937 Evening Gaz. (Xenia, Ohio) 20 Mar. 2/3 Joe E. Brown, rubber-mouthed screen comedian.
1994 S. J. Sturgis in I. Zahava Lavender Mansions 299 The steering wheel fights his hands like a rubber-mouthed horse.
rubber-soled adj.
ΚΠ
1860 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 2 Jan. (advt.) Get your Boots Rubber Soled and save yourself from a broken neck.]
1863 Bangor (Maine) Daily Whig & Courier 30 Nov. (advt.) Those persons who have so patiently waited the arrival of those Rubber Soled Boots..will be gratified to learn that they have arrived.
1913 E. C. Bentley Trent's Last Case v. 123 He wore rubber-soled tennis shoes.
2006 Metro 26 Oct. (London ed.) 17/1 Once wearing trainers off-court was a fashion statement. Today, it's hard to stand out from the rest of the rubber-soled crowd.
rubber-stoppered adj.
ΚΠ
1877 New Remedies 15 June 172/2 The filter-paper must also be..preserved in a rubber stoppered bottle.
1927 C. B. Neblette Photogr. xx. 465 The potassium pentasulphide solution thus formed is then allowed to cool, filtered and kept in a rubber-stoppered bottle tightly closed.
1993 J. Meades Pompey (1994) 126 Bottle of Guinness for his brother, bottle of rubber-stoppered dutch Courage for 'self.
rubber-tipped adj.
ΚΠ
1861 Berkshire County Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 11 Apr. (advt.) New Rubber Tipped Shee [read Shoe].
1926 ‘C. Barry’ Detective's Holiday xi. 97 A sallow, unhealthy-looking man of about thirty years, who walked with the help of a stout stick and a rubber-tipped wooden stump.
2002 S. Stacey & J. Fairley 21st Cent. Beauty Bible 151/1 Gently push back cuticles with a rubber-tipped ‘hoof stick’.
rubber-treaded adj.
ΚΠ
1915 Fordowner Dec. 57/1 These [tyres] are made in three styles, a light weight, a rubber-treaded and a hard-studded overshoe.
1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle i. 11 He went in a dark entrance and climbed the narrow stairs rubber-treaded, the edges guarded with strips of brass.
1998 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Feb. 141/1 You must face four flights of fluorescent-lit, rubber-treaded stairs.
C3.
rubber boa n. a short-tailed, thick-bodied, brown boa, Charina bottae (family Boidae), native to the western United States and British Columbia; cf. rubber snake n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Boidae (boas) > charina bottae (rubber boa)
rubber snake1897
rubber boa1907
1907 Western Field Mar. 82/1 Though not a reptile of the strictly arid regions, the Rubber Boa, (Charina Bottae), found in the Pacific States from Oregon to southern California, deserves some reference.
1953 H. S. Zim & H. M. Smith Reptiles & Amphibians iii. 73 The grayish Rubber Boa, also heavy-bodied, has a short, blunt tail which it displays like a head while its real head is protected by the coils of its body.
2001 Molecular Phylogenetics & Evol. 18 227/2 Rubber boas can attain maximum total lengths of approximately 83 cm.
rubber bullet n. a bullet made of or coated with rubber or similar material, (in modern use) typically used by security and police forces for riot control; cf. plastic bullet n. at plastic n. and adj. Compounds 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shell > bullet > types of bullet
pistol bullet?1591
musket bullet1598
musket ball1637
silver bullet1648
three-o(h)-three1683
pistol ball1689
musket shot1755
Biscayen1812
picket1848
rifle bolt1849
Minié ball1851
Minié1852
expanding bullet1859
navy bullet1873
two-two1895
dum-dum1897
Lee-Enfield bullet1899
rubber bullet1900
full-metal-jacket1913
round-nose1932
thirty-two1942
plastic bullet1945
baton round1968
1900 W. Virginia School Jrnl. Dec. 23/2 There are shooting galleries where little pistols with rubber bullets are used to shoot pasteboard men.
1971 Guardian 14 June 1/8 The soldiers, wearing gas masks and riot helmets, fired nine rounds of rubber bullets.
2004 Independent (Compact ed.) 8 Apr. 28/2 Israeli troops who fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
rubber cheque n. slang (originally U.S.) a cheque that is returned to the drawer because there are insufficient funds to meet it; see bounce v. 6c.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > cheques and drafts > [noun] > cheque > forged or dishonoured
paper1850
stumer1890
rubber cheque1922
kite1927
rubber kite1961
1922 Fort-Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram 12 Jan. 13/2 Don't pass a rubber check. It might snap back and sting you.
1955 J. Potts Death of Stray Cat xv. 157 Jimmy was going to have a lot more to explain than just a handful of rubber cheques.
2001 I. Sinclair Landor's Tower (2002) i. ii. 19 This bumbling writ-dodger, infamous throughout the booktrade for his rubber cheques.
rubber chicken n. slang (chiefly North American) attributive, designating or relating to a speaking event (esp. for political or fund-raising purposes) at which poorly cooked food is typically served; esp. in rubber chicken circuit.
ΚΠ
1941 Daily Messenger (N.Y.) 16 Dec. 11/2 Popular story on the rubber chicken circuit tells how Bernie Bierman discovered one night that the hotel where his athletes were staying was on fire.
1959 Maclean's 23 May 1/1 Next year's rubber-chicken circuit is being sewed up by three Toronto women with a public-speaking agency called Canadian Celebrity Bureau.
1979 N.Y. Mag. 3 Dec. 44/2 Most of these things are just routine, rubber-chicken events.
1992 Spy (N.Y.) Oct. 50/2 The Moose Lodge meetings, the tedious constituents, the endless rubber-chicken dinners.
2004 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 7 Nov. (Seven Days section) 11/4 She intended to re-acquaint herself with the rubber chicken circuit, visiting Labour Party branches around the country.
rubber dam n. Dentistry a sheet of soft rubber pierced with holes and fitted in the mouth so as to protect the exposed teeth from saliva while a filling or other operation is done; (without article, in form rubberdam) rubber of this type.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > dentistry > [noun] > other dental equipment
explorer1844
plate1845
rose head1847
plugging forceps1861
plugger1862
rubber dam1865
finger mirror1867
nerve instrument1867
hoe1875
saliva extractor1877
thimble1877
finger-tray1878
scaler1881
matrix1883
saliva ejectora1884
sickle scaler1930
1865 Dental Cosmos 6 13 ‘Barnum's Rubber Dam’ is the name of a simple device for preventing the intrusion of blood or saliva during the operation of filling.
1876 Monthly Rev. Dental Surg. 4 269 With rubberdam in place, [he] applied the lead with the paste over the exposed nerve.
1927 J. D. H. Jamieson Oper. Dentistry iii. 30 It is used in the form of strips of rubberdam.
1997 Jrnl. Amer. Dental Assoc. 128 1423 (advt.) Introducing Hu-Friedy's new Satin Steel rubber dam clamps.
rubber dinghy n. an inflatable flat-bottomed boat made of rubber or similar material.
ΚΠ
1929 Times 5 Mar. 9/1 Collapsible hammocks were arranged in the hull, and also a rubber dinghy.
1966 A. MacLean When Eight Bells Toll i. 17 When I'd left the port of Torbay in my rubber dinghy it had been broad daylight.
2001 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Dec. 312/2 The commandos climbed into Zodiacs, rubber dinghies with outboard engines.
rubber duck n. (a) a model of a duck made of rubber or similar material; spec. one used as a bath toy; (b) (chiefly South African) an inflatable boat made of rubber or similar material; esp. a flat-bottomed dinghy with a motor.
ΚΠ
1858 Kenosha (Wisconsin) Tribune & Tel. 26 Aug. 2/8 From India Rubber Pencils to India Rubber Ducks.]
1869 Sci. Amer. 23 Oct. 260/1 Foster's India-rubber decoy duck. This is a rubber duck of full size, and accurately formed.
1917 Century May 3/1 The baby had the grace to..show further proof of enthusiasm by flinging a rubber duck out of the window.
1984 T. Palmer Youghiogheny ix. 209 Ralph..invested his savings in rubber ducks. Simply called ‘duckies’ they are inflatable rubber kayaks with a fiberglass deck.
1999 C. Wambach Touring Colorado Hot Springs 56 You hated to take that bath, even when she said you could take Mr. Bubble, your rubber ball, and the yellow rubber ducks in with you.
2009 Daily News (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 9 June 9 The use of rubber ducks was vetoed because the rough sea conditions..meant there would be a risk of vessels capsizing.
rubber ducky n. a toy duck made of rubber or similar material, designed for use in the bath; cf. rubber duck n. (a).Popularized by the 1970 children's song Rubber Duckie, performed by Jim Henson as Ernie, a character on the U.S. television programme Sesame Street.
ΚΠ
1933 Life Dec. 18/2 From three to four years: Drums, whistles, tin trumpets. Sailboats and rubber duckies to be left in bathtubs.
1973 Chicago Tribune 22 June 1/4 While the astronauts packed up for the trip home, Kerwin asked, ‘Has anybody seen my rubber duckie?’
2003 K. Cooke Kid-wrangling (2004) 186 Newborns don't need any bath toys; wait until your baby is reaching for and grabbing things before you introduce a rubber ducky or a floaty plastic anything.
rubber fetish n. a sexual fetish centred on clothing or other items made of rubber; an item which is the object of such a fetish.
ΚΠ
1954 B. Karpman Sexual Offender xix. 352 Another rubber fetish in a case reported by Payne was a mackintosh, and in this case also the patient preferred one that had been stolen.
2009 N.Y. Times 8 Mar. (T: Style Mag.) 64/3 This store offers leather and rubber fetish favorites that would make the Marquis de Sade proud.
rubber fetishism n. sexual fetishism centred on clothing or other items made of rubber.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > types of sexual behaviour > [noun] > sexual fetishism > specific
rubber fetishism1930
leather1966
1930 S. Parker tr. W. Stekel Sexual Aberrations I. v. 105 During the two years that he was engaged, he continued his rubber and glove fetishism unabated.
1971 E. Chesser Human Aspects Sexual Deviation iii. 51 Although rubber fetishism features largely in pornographic literature, if it makes for married happiness it is impossible to see how any moral issue can arise.
2005 Independent (Nexis) 4 Dec. 18 Pitiless, minimal narratives about kerb-crawling, abduction, sado-masochism and rubber fetishism.
rubber goods n. products made of rubber; spec. condoms; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > contraception or birth control > [noun] > a contraceptive > condom > collectively
rubber goods1850
1850 Ann. Sci. Discov. 102 Since then, the manufacture of rubber goods has more than doubled in amount.
1897 National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 26 May 15/4 (advt.) T. W. Harrison's rubber, cigar, and book stores. List of all kinds of rubber goods, French & American specialities, pessaries of every description.
1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover x. 141 She wasn't all tough rubber-goods and platinum, like the modern girl.
1973 A. Broinowski Take One Ambassador xii. 187 The rubber goods factory next door.
2002 M. McGrath Silvertown (2003) i. 3 Manufacturers of naphtha, turpentine,..linseed oil and rubber goods.
rubber gum n. the sap or latex of rubber trees.
ΚΠ
1854 Ann. Sci. Discov. 338 We are indebted to the East Indies and Carthagena, in New Grenada, for a portion of the india rubber gum we employ in manufacture.]
1859 G. Thompson Palm Land (ed. 2) vi. 113 In different countries the rubber gum is obtained from a variety of trees.
1910 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 153/2 In these forests grow the trees which yield the finest quality of rubber-gum.
1997 P. Ball Made to Meas. 191 Goodyear was using sulfur simply as a drying agent, which he hoped would remove the liquid component of the rubber gum.
rubber ice n. North American thin, flexible ice.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > ice > [noun] > thin
thin ice1625
skim1807
black ice1827
tickly-benders1853
shell ice1875
cat-ice1884
rubber ice1895
sheet icec1900
skim ice1938
1895 Atchison (Kansas) Daily Globe 11 Feb. 4/2 The thin ice had been frozen only a few hours Saturday night, making ‘rubber ice’.
1916 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 101/2 ‘Soft as Cheese!’ Doctor Rolfe concluded. ‘Rubber ice and air holes.’
2008 Portage (Manitoba) Daily Graphic (Nexis) 1 Nov. 11 Now it was time to see if the rubber ice was strong enough to hold a 50-pound boy.
rubber johnny n. slang (chiefly British) a condom; cf. sense 14e.
ΚΠ
1960 W. Goldman Soldier in Rain v. 203 I don't usually like to have sexual intercourse with nobody unless they got a rubberjohnny, on account of I don't much want to get pregnant.
1980 Private Eye 29 Feb. 13/1 Even the rubber johnny merchants gave him the thumbs down.
1997 S. Coogan et al. Alan Partridge: Every Ruddy Word (2003) 257/1 Prophylactics, you know, rubber johnnies. Actually, er, being your age and everything, there's probably no need for them.
rubber kite n. slang = rubber cheque n.; cf. kite n. 4c.
ΚΠ
1961 John o' London's 30 Nov. 610/3 A worthless cheque is a rubber kite.
1998 L. Elliott & D. Atkinson Age of Insecurity (1999) iii. 132 The new market order's pledges have proved to be worthless rubber kites.
rubber latex n. latex from which rubber is produced.
ΚΠ
1900 P. L. Gell Rubber Industry in Brit. S. Afr. Co.’s Territories i. 3 The essential conditions for the development of the Rubber latex appear to be tropical or sub-tropical heat, accompanied with shade and with varying degrees of moisture.
1972 Materials & Technol. V. iv. 80 Rubber latex is not naturally very stable: the rubber particles coagulate spontaneously in course of time.
1999 New Scientist 11 Dec. 9/2 Latex from guayule is free from the allergenic proteins found in rubber latex.
rubber-leather n. and adj. (a) n. a material combining rubber and leather; (b) adj. consisting of rubber and leather.
ΚΠ
1900 W. T. Brannt India Rubber iv. 136 While genuine kamptulicon is always composed of rubber and cork, rubber leather frequently contains, instead of cork, any kind of fibrous substance, such as hemp, flax, jute, etc.
1923 Daily Mail 28 May 3 A new process for the manufacture of rubber-leather compounds.
1996 G. Clancy Wild Turkey 47 Boots suitable for turkey hunting include..uninsulated rubber-leather pac.
rubber-proofed adj. coated or treated with rubber for waterproofing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > dryness > [adjective] > waterproof or watertight > by specific means
oiled1673
rubber-proofed1891
1878 Belfast News-let. 12 Jan. (advt.) Scotch tweed waterproofs—patent rubber proofed.
1890 R. H. Jones Asbestos iii. 56 Both the sheeting and the tape are used for making joints, and the former is sometimes rubber-proofed to render it water-tight.]
1891 Chem. News 2 Oct. 172/1 The presence of copper, even when oily and greasy matters are absent, is almost as destructive to the rubber, on rubber proofed cloth, as when they are also present.
1934 J. A. Sinclair Airships in Peace & War iii. 65 The envelopes were composed of rubber-proofed fabric, two fabrics being used with rubber interposed between them, and also on the inner or gas surface.
1993 G. C. Reid et al. Profiles in Small Business 103 The firm produced from two to five product groups..letterpress blankets, rubber proofed fabrics, etc.
rubber reclaiming n. the action or process of making reclaimed rubber (cf. reclaimed rubber at reclaimed adj. 2b); chiefly attributive.
ΚΠ
1891 15th Ann. Rep. Board of Health State New Jersey 234 A rubber reclaiming factory has been built.
1942 Times 11 Dec. 8/6 The Government appointed the Rubber Control Board, under which the rubber reclaiming industry now operates.
1998 N. L. Nemerow & F. J. Agardy Strategies of Industr. & Hazardous Waste Managem. i. 4/1 Wastes from many industries, including soap manufacturing, textile dyeing, rubber reclaiming and leather tanning.
rubber ring n. (a) a loop of rubber used to secure or seal something; (b) an inflatable ring of rubber or similar material used as a flotation device.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [noun] > rising due to lightness > buoyancy > device providing buoyancy
lifebuoy1783
float1874
water wing1901
rubber ring1976
1853 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 16 July In order to restrain the motion of the upper board on the lower, two vulcanized rubber rings were passed round both.]
1858 N.Y. Dental Jrnl. Dec. 118 The rubber rings ought to be changed often, as they lose their elasticity.
1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 537/3 Rubber rings, for Mason fruit jars.
1976 H. Tracy Death in Reserve xix. 146 Free bucket-and-spade, beachballs, rubber rings.
2000 Times 2 Aug. i. 3/1 The rugby international..rescued two sisters who were drifting out to sea in a rubber ring.
rubber room n. (a) a room used for the production, storage, or sale of rubber or rubber goods; (b) = padded cell n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > places for the sick or injured > [noun] > hospital or infirmary > hospital for the mentally ill > room in
rubber room1844
padded room1846
padded cell1862
pad1938
quiet room1938
1844 Bradford Observer 17 Oct. 1/5 That other Mill or Factory..used and occupied by him as Rubber Rooms, Card Setting Rooms, and for other purposes.
1890 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 10 Mar. 1/7 The flames..spread at once to the rubber-room, where the American Rubber Company had $3,000 worth of stock.
1938 S. Beckett Murphy 167 The padded cells, known to the wittier as the ‘quiet rooms’, ‘rubber rooms’ or, in a notable clip ‘pads’.
1988 Working Mother Jan. 72/3 I was supposed to be the equivalent of the rubber room in a mental hospital, against whose walls my children could fling themselves without getting hurt.
1992 Sunday Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) (Nexis) 9 Aug. 1 A rubber-room fire killed one worker last year.
2001 S. T. Asma Stuffed Animals & Pickled Heads (Acknowl.) p. ix If not for my family, this project would have had me in the rubber room many times.
rubber sheet n. a sheet of rubber, esp. one from which shapes can be cut, or which is used to protect against water, dirt, etc. rubber-sheet geometry n. (a humorous name for) topology.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > types of material generally > [noun] > material for other specific purposes
screen cloth1603
wadding1627
heading1650
fusive1678
graving stuff1702
pounce1728
railing1740
retarder1753
seating1790
shelving1817
bending1823
shafting1825
wedging1825
rubber sheet1842
facing1843
piston packing1857
sheathing1859
screeding1864
paint1875
sleeving1923
landfill1969
presoak1969
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > rubber > [noun] > in specific form
rubber sheet1842
rubber band1849
cut sheet1900
sheet1900
crêpe rubber1907
smoked sheet1909
twist1909
air foam1937
foam1937
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [noun] > a covering > protective
shoe1387
subtectacle1609
shelterc1660
bell-glass1682
loricationa1706
lorification1730
shoeing1780
rubber sheet1842
facing1852
nose cap1973
1842 Boston Courier 19 Sept. (advt.) 8 cases, containing 1154 double Rubber Sheets.
1937 Amer. Math. Monthly 44 62 Someone, thinking of plane topology, has aptly called it ‘rubber sheet geometry’—..the sheet may be stretched in any way without altering the configuration in the topological sense.
1976 M. Millar Ask for me Tomorrow (1977) xiii. 107 She gave him a sponge bath..on a rubber sheet on the bed.
1994 Science 3 Sept. 18/1 In topology, or ‘rubber-sheet geometry’, you are allowed to bend, stretch and compress spaces at will.
2004 Pract. Crafts July 14/2 Stamp sheets include several images on a rubber sheet, which you cut out and mount onto a clear acrylic block.
rubber shop n. a place in which goods made of rubber are manufactured and sold; spec. a shop that sells condoms (cf. rubber goods n.) and (more notably) pornographic material.
ΚΠ
1864 New Haven (Connecticut) Daily Palladium 15 Apr. The female operatives in the Rubber Shop..recently asked for and received a slight increase of wages.
1918 E. Pound Pavannes & Divisions 17 Obscene books are sold in the rubber shops.
1940 R. Graves & A. Hodge Long Week-end vii. 105 Contraception['s]..association with the pornographic literature of rubber-shops.
2003 Akron (Ohio) Beacon Jrnl. (Nexis) 4 Sept. b2 The steel mills, rubber shops and stamping plants provided the stability of lifetime employment.
rubber slipper n. a slipper made of rubber or having a rubber sole; (now also) a rubber flip-flop.
ΚΠ
1848 Galveston (Texas) News 11 Nov. Ladies'..rubber slippers.
1890 New Eng. Med. Monthly 15 Dec. 151/2 Whenever the physician enters a patient's house, he will take care to immediately demand a pair of rubber slippers.
1935 Manch. Guardian 21 Oct. 20/4 They are assisted by ten or twelve girls..wearing rubber slippers for quiet movement.
1985 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 16 Feb. They're starting to look for their towels and rubber slippers.
2000 J. C. Scott Lucky Gourd Shop 55 On her feet were white rubber slippers with turned-up toes.
rubber snake n. now rare = rubber boa n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Boidae (boas) > charina bottae (rubber boa)
rubber snake1897
rubber boa1907
1885 W. Amer. Scientist 1 42/1 A species of Charina, not rarely found throughout the county [sc. San Diego] where it is known as the India rubber snake.]
1897 J. van Denburgh Reptiles Pacific Coast & Great Basin 156 The Rubber Snake..is not rare in the moister portions of California.
1954 R. C. Stebbins Amphibians & Reptiles Western N. Amer. 352/2 Rubber Snake... Usually found in moist locations, often near, or within, coniferous woods.
rubber solution n. a solution of rubber or latex in an organic solvent, spec. one used as an adhesive in the repair of tyres; cf. rubber cement n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > rubber materials > [noun] > rubber solutions
rubber solution1855
indianite1867
solution1897
1832 J. B. Angell tr. F. Luedersdorff Solution & Reprod. India Rubber 29 If we expose to the clear daylight a sheet made of the India Rubber solution, or a cloth coated with it, decomposition soon begins.]
1855 H. H. Day vs. I. Hartshorn, et Al. in Rep. U.S. Circuit Court: District Rhode Island 248 There is strictly, in the Atkinson patent, described a process tor applying a rubber solution to cloth.
1894 Ld. Albemarle & G. L. Hillier Cycling (rev. ed.) App. 471 The hole [is] discovered..and a small patch of rubber stuck over it with rubber solution.
1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage ii. 45 It is also a useful precaution to put a spot of rubber solution onto the endings of threads on the back of the work.
2003 R. Joseph in B. G. Crowther Handbk. Rubber Bonding (rev. ed.) v. 153 The rubber strip may be avoided and the bond may be developed solely from the rubber solution.
rubber-tyred adj. having a rubber tyre or tyres; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1871 Western Mail 14 Feb. 2/2 (advt.) Bright, rubber-tired wheels, nearly new.
1901 R. Kipling Let. May in Ld. Birkenhead R. Kipling (1978) xiv. 235 We were bung full of beastly spiritual pride... We went about despising things and people, unconsciously turning our ideals to mean an easy life…soft rubber-tyred.
1999 D. J. Mead et al. in J. White & J. Hodgson N.Z. Pasture & Crop Sci. xviii. 280/1 This allows the logger to harvest with rubber-tyred skidders.
rubber vine n. any of several vines which yield rubber; spec. the woody African vine Cryptostegia grandiflora (family Asclepiadaceae), widely cultivated in the tropics and a serious weed in northern Australia; cf. India rubber vine at India rubber n. Compounds 1a.
ΚΠ
1875 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 19 81 Ground-nuts..are produced here [sc. Quiballa, Angola] in abundance; the rubber vine also grows plentifully.
1916 E. V. Wilcox Trop. Agric. xiii. 201 Rubber vines include species of Landolphia, Clitandra, and Cryptostegia.
2003 New Scientist 12 July 44/4 More insidious damage is being done to both farmland and bush country by weeds like buffel grass or rubber vine and by plant diseases such as cinnamon fungus.
rubberware n. products made of rubber.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > rubber > [noun] > rubber goods
rubberware1852
1852 New Hampsh. Statesman 10 Apr. (advt.) Roxbury Rubber Ware Rooms.
1871 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1869 II. 608/1 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (41st Congr., 2nd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 102) XIII Curing of rubber ware by the transmission of heat through a sand-bath.
1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Oct. 300/1 During the war..rubberware of any kind was very scarce.
1996 H. Fielding Bridget Jones's Diary (1997) 70 The toddlers..clearly at the age when they should be securely swathed in layers of rubberware.
rubberwear n. clothing made of rubber (esp. in the context of rubber fetishism).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > made from specific material > other
linenc1330
rubberwear1873
1873 Titusville (Pa.) Morning Herald 25 June (advt.) Rubber wear for infants, for sale.
1967 G. Freeman Undergrowth of Lit. x. 150 There is also a comprehensive catalogue of the latest range of rubberwear called ‘Black Panther’.
1993 Independent on Sunday 7 Nov. 9/1 They design and make black rubberwear for fetishists and the fashion-bold.
rubberwood n. the wood of the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis.
ΚΠ
1915 New Phytologist 14 159 The presence of black lines in dead rubber wood must not, however, be considered a certain sign that Ustulina zonata is present.
1946 Atlantic Monthly Dec. 41/2 We cut blocks of soft rubberwood and carved small toys.
1992 Green Mag. Apr. 36/1 Rubberwood was used by many companies as an alternative to chopping down virgin forest.
2007 Dominion Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 19 Apr. (Life section) 2 Perfume in a pot smells good when the container is rubberwood.

Derivatives

ˈrubber-like adj. resembling or suggestive of rubber; cf. India rubber-like adj. at India rubber n. Derivatives.
ΚΠ
1862 R.I. Schoolmaster (Rhode Island Commissioner Public Schools) Apr. 112/1 The rubber-like cushion before spoken of forces the shell open again.
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 156 The vibration of the motor-car has bruised their insensitive bottoms Into rubber-like deadness.
1959 Times 27 Apr. (Rubber Industry Suppl.) p. ii/4 Some of the earliest research work on a synthetic product with rubberlike properties was carried out in this country.
2005 BBC Focus Dec. 20/3 Resilin, a durable and flexible rubber-like material.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

rubbern.2

Brit. /ˈrʌbə/, U.S. /ˈrəbər/
Forms: 1500s–1700s rubbers, 1500s– rubber.
Origin: Of unknown origin.
Etymology: Origin unknown.It is unclear whether the original form was rubber or rubbers. Compare (all < English) French robre, in whist or bridge (1773; 1766 as rober), Dutch robber, in card games (1810; also rubber), German Robber, in whist (1838).
1. A set of games (usually three or five), the last of which is played to decide between the opponents when each has won an equal number; (hence) the winning of more than half the individual games by one side. Also in early use: †the final decisive game (obsolete).
†a. to hold out rubbers: to hold one's own, keep one's ground. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (intransitive)] > resist > resist resolutely
i-standOE
atstand?c1225
to hold out rubbers1573
to stand out1574
to hold out1585
stay1593
to stand one's ground1600
to stick out1677
to stand brush1794
1573 J. Bridges Supremacie Christian Princes 764 As ye played in the beginning, so ye holde out rubbers euen to the ending.
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 34 Calumny, & her coosen-german Impudency, wil not alwaies hould-out rubbers.
1597 Returne fr. Parnassus i. i. 396 How hast thou held out rubbers ere since thou wentest from Parnassus?
b. Generally, in tennis, cricket, and in various other games and sports.Earliest in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > game or definite spell of play > series of games
rubber1594
double-header1896
cupper1900
play-off1932
1594 R. Becon Solon his Follie To Rdr. sig. ¶¶ j. But if thou shalt vouchsafe to recall so vnskilfull an archer againe into the fieldes, I may perhaps winne a bet, that shall pay for the losse of a rubber.
1792 Stamford Mercury 24 Aug. A match of cricket was played at Spalding,..being the first game of [printed and] the rubber.
1807 Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (1810) 100 When either party gains the first rubber, which is driving it quick round the post, the ball is again taken to the centre.
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter I. vi. 106 Harbottle and Harvey..retired to the adjoining room, and began a rubber at billiards.
1882 Standard 11 Sept. 3/3 The Stow-in-the-Wold Club has beaten the Royal Forest of Dean Lawn-tennis Club by sixteen rubbers to five.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 9 June 9/3 As in the case of America Cup, a rubber of races has to be sailed.
1912 J. B. Hobbs Recov. Ashes 120 England thus decisively winning the match and the rubber by an innings and 225 runs.
1975 Cricketer May 8/1 His side won four to one in the recent rubber in Australia.
1992 Tennis Apr. 30/3 The match consisted of two singles rubbers for the number 1 and 2 players, and three doubles rubbers.
c. In bowls. Also figurative and in figurative contexts. Now rare (chiefly historical).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > game or part of game
rubber1599
end1688
roll-off1886
head1893
point1902
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. B2 Weele to the greene to Bowles... Phillip come, a rubbers and so leaue.
1602 T. Dekker Satiro-mastix sig. M2 Mini. I, a match, since he hath hit the Mistris so often i'th fore-game, we'll eene play out a rubbers..Sir Vau. Play out your rubbers in Gods name.
1606 N. Breton Choice, Chance, & Change sig. E3 Will you make one at bowles for a rubber or two?
1635 F. Quarles Emblemes i. x. 42 Who breathes that boules not?..Ev'ry Sinner Has plaid his Rubbers: Every Soule's a winner.
1650 T. Bayly Worcesters Apophthegmes 14 Presuming more upon his good bowling, then good manners, [he] continued the familiarity that should have ended with the rubbers.
1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) III. 475 Here is a rubber playing in Christendom. Can you, by law or conscience, undertake to assist either party?
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xvi. 70/2 Bowl out the Rubber is to bowl a third game for the betts, when the players haue gotten one apeece.
1740 W. Oldys Life Sir W. Ralegh 87 The Tradition goes, that Drake would needs see the Game up, but was soon prevailed on to go and play out the Rubbers with the Spaniards.
1798 Sporting Mag. 12 170/2 The world's the bowling-green on which we play..Rubbers our passions are.
1826 J. M. Sherer Notes & Refl. Ramble Germany 83 Tom Warton..liked his ale and his rubber of bowls.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! xxx There, Vice-Admiral, you're beaten, and that's the rubber.
1909 Chatterbox 122/1 The rubbers at bowls in London have pretty near cleaned my purse out.
2004 A. Truscott & D. H. Truscott N.Y. Times Bridge Bk. (new ed.) x. 107 Sir Francis Drake played a rubber of bowls while awaiting the approach of the Spanish Armada.
d. In whist and bridge; also in other card games, and in cribbage and backgammon. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > [noun] > game or match > set of games
rubber1740
rub1818
1740 H. Fielding in Champion 26 Feb. 309 I had the most terrible Run at Cards last Night—would you think it? I lost nine Rubbers following.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones V. xv. iii. 209 They were engaged in a Rubbers at Whist. View more context for this quotation
1764 in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 105 I played one rubber of crown cribbage.
1798 Anti-Jacobin 2 Apr. 166/1 Play the Long Rubber of conubial life.
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility II. i. 15 Lady Middleton proposed a rubber of cassino to the others.
1847 S. R. Hole Hints to Freshmen (ed. 2) 38 In the rubber of University life..Clubs are no longer trumps.
1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xv. 134 A dreary rubber at backgammon with the widow.
1886 J. Collinson Biritch 3 After each rubber there is a fresh cut for partners.
1909 N. Griffith Dorrien Carfax xli. 361 I mean partners for the rubber of life.
1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement xi. 580 They were now playing their third rubber of auction.
1960 J. Betjeman Summoned by Bells vi. 56 Depositing their wraps and settling down To a nice rubber.
1993 N.Y. Times 24 Oct. ix. 17/6 Since this was rubber bridge, long before the days of the 100-point bonus for making a redoubled contract, the total, including 700 for the rubber, was 2,620.
†2. In extended use.
a. a rubber at (also of) cuffs n. Obsolete a scuffle or fight in which only the hands are used.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight > with hands or fists
fist-fight1603
a rubber at (also of) cuffs1640
chiromachy1659
punch-out1969
1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 108 A paire of slippers in one hand: and in the other, a rubber (not at cuffs) but a Towell to rubbe him after his travaile.
1667 R. L'Estrange tr. F. de Quevedo Visions v. 159 The Thief, after a great struggle, and a good lusty Rubber at Cuffs, has made a shift to save himself.
1691 T. Southerne Sir Anthony Love i. i Never offer'd at..a quarrel above a rubber at Cuffs.
1717 Present State Crown-Inn 18 He kept his Ground tolerably well, and came to a Rubber at Cuffs with his Adversary.
1753 R. Shiels & T. Cibber Lives Poets Great. Brit. & Irel. III. 214 I 'spied two brawney champions at a rubber of cuffs, which by the dexterity of their heads, hands, and heels, I judged could be no other than Englishmen.
b. An additional turn or spell at something; (more generally) any spell, round, or turn. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > [noun] > recurrence > turn
charec1000
lotc1175
throwc1275
tourc1320
wheel1422
turnc1425
tourney1523
course1530
vice1637
rubbera1643
rote1831
whet1849
journey1884
a1643 W. Cartwright Poems in Comedies (1651) sig. P6 The Glass was Compell'd still Rubbers to run, And he counted the fift Evangelist.
1661 A. Brome Songs & Other Poems sig. N8 So here's t' you (Charles) a Rubbers too't. Here's a Cast more, if that wont do't, Here's half a dozen more.
1691 W. Mountfort Greenwich-Park ii. iii. 40 Agreed, then we'll first to Supper, and then for a Rubbers at Scampring.
1706 Honest London Spy i. ii. 57 Tho' I gave him an Invitation to take another Rubbers with me, yet he put it off.
c. A quarrel; a turn or bout of quarrelling or recrimination. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [noun] > a quarrel
controversy1448
tencion?1473
brulyie1531
pique1532
feudc1565
quarrel1566
jar1583
controverse1596
brack1600
outcast1620
rixation1623
controversarya1635
simultya1637
outfall1647
outfallingc1650
controversion1658
démêlé1661
embroilment1667
strut1677
risse1684
rubber1688
fray1702
brulyiement1718
fallout1725
tossa1732
embroil1742
ding-dong?1760
pilget1777
fratch1805
spar1836
splutter1838
bust-up1842
whid1847
chip1854
kass-kass1873
wap1887
run-in1894
go-round1898
blue1943
hassle1945
square-up?1949
ruck1958
1688 T. Shadwell Squire of Alsatia ii. i. 33 This is the old Fellow I had like to have had a Rubbers with in the morning.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Rubbers,..a Rencounter with drawn Sword, and Reflections made upon any one.
1705 J. Vanbrugh Confederacy ii If you please to drop yourself in his way, six to four but he scolds one rubbers with you.

Compounds

C1. General attributive (in sense 1d).
rubber player n.
ΚΠ
1824 Repository of Arts 1 Mar. 167/1 I recognised one of my rose-wood card-tables..: how often has its green baize been ruffled by the knuckles of the decided rubber-player.
1935 Times 17 Sept. 12/4 America's best pair are opposed by one of England's finest pairs of rubber players.
1993 Bridge Nov. 28/3 Tournament, duplicate and rubber players will really find nothing of bridge interest or relevance in this book.
rubber saver n.
ΚΠ
1914 F. Irwin Nullo Auction vii. 108 Nullos are..wonderful rubber-savers.
1948 Times 8 Dec. 7/4 When the hand had been played South had to face a barrage of criticism.., but he claimed that as a rubber saver the risk was worth while.
rubber-value n.
ΚΠ
1912 F. Irwin Fine Points Auction Bridge 166 The rubber-value is 250 points above the line.
C2.
rubber bridge n. a type of bridge which is scored in rubbers.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > bridge > [noun] > varieties of
nullo1893
duplicate1894
auction bridge1903
auction1908
contract1908
duplicate bridge1929
plafond1929
rubber bridge1935
1935 Times 20 July 15/6 There will be an open pairs contest, an exhibition match and rubber bridge.
1977 Times 29 Aug. 6/4 The real experts preferred rubber bridge at which they could win hard cash.
2004 Bridge Mag. Mar. 13/1 In those days, the club offered rubber bridge in the afternoons and duplicate most evenings.
rubber game n. a game played to determine the winner of a series.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > game or definite spell of play > specific one of series
heata1663
rubber game1793
round1837
rubber match1843
tie-match1864
final1880
postseason1882
semi-final1884
preliminary1886
cup-tie1895
play-off1895
tie1895
leg1899
repechage1899
qualifier1908
quarter-final1916
playdown1918
rounder1918
go-around1933
quick death1938
semi1942
pretrial1946
quarter1950
barrage1955
tie-breaker1961
semi-main1968
tie-break1970
breaker1979
1793 S. Gunning Mem. Mary II. 53 It was the rubber game—and the next deal decided it in their favour.
1864 F. Keyes Evan Dale xvi. 195 In the rubber game Grace and Ford were beaten.
1908 R. F. Foster Auction Bridge 32 It is very important not to let players make a declaration that will put them out, especially on the rubber game.
1991 Sports Illustr. 30 Sept. 20/3 Before the rubber game of the deadlocked series on Sunday, Atlanta coach Jim Beauchamp buttonholed Los Angeles outfielder Mitch Webster behind the batting cage.
rubber match n. a match to determine the winner of a series; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [noun] > game or definite spell of play > specific one of series
heata1663
rubber game1793
round1837
rubber match1843
tie-match1864
final1880
postseason1882
semi-final1884
preliminary1886
cup-tie1895
play-off1895
tie1895
leg1899
repechage1899
qualifier1908
quarter-final1916
playdown1918
rounder1918
go-around1933
quick death1938
semi1942
pretrial1946
quarter1950
barrage1955
tie-breaker1961
semi-main1968
tie-break1970
breaker1979
1843 New Monthly Mag. Nov. 390 I..was engaged to finish the rubber match with the billiard-marker at the tables in Jermyn-street.
1946 J. Cary Moonlight ix. 68 ‘Of course it was always a rubber match,’ Robin was saying to Amanda. ‘From the first night. It didn't seem to matter at first. The really interesting thing was how it went bad on us.’
1977 New Yorker 25 July 58/1 In their rubber match the following year it was Miss Sutton, 6–1, 6–4.
2004 Metro (Toronto) 19 May 32/4 He will be back at leadoff when the Jays and Twins play the rubber match of this three-game series.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rubbern.3

Brit. /ˈrʌbə/, U.S. /ˈrəbər/
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Perhaps formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: rub n.1; rub v.1, -er suffix1.
Etymology: Origin uncertain; in they who play at bowls must look for (also must expect, will meet with) rubbers at main sense apparently related to the phrase they who play at bowls must expect rubs at rub n.1 2a, which is first attested slightly later, although it is unclear which of the two has priority. Perhaps an alteration of rub n.1 by association with rubber n.2 1c, or perhaps < rub v.1 (compare rub v.1 8a) + -er suffix1, either as an alteration of the phrase mentioned above or as an independent formation. Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. at rubbers n. pl. records the use of rubbers (especially with the) in the sense ‘misfortune, bad luck’ from the late 18th cent., and derives this use from the proverb, although the correspondence in the earliest examples is not especially close.
Now rare.
Adversity, difficulty. Only in plural in proverb they who play at bowls must look for (also must expect, will meet with) rubbers and variants.
ΚΠ
1751 Mem. & Interesting Adventures Embroidered Waistcoat II. 19 Miss Lisper..had..sometimes Conversation with Men, and as they who play at Bowls must expect Rubbers, she began to feel an Increase of her Size.
1762 T. Smollett Adventures Sir Launcelot Greaves I. x. 200 (heading) Which sheweth that he who plays at bowls, will sometimes meet with rubbers.
1797 Ld. Nelson Feb. in Dispatches & Lett. (1845) II. 350 They who play at balls must expect rubbers.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. vi. 162 ‘And how if it fails?’ said Darsie. ‘Thereafter as it may be—’ said Nixon; ‘they who play at bowls must meet with rubbers.’
1831 T. De Quincey Dr. Parr in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 907/1 They who play at bowls, must look for rubbers.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms III. xi. 153 If you play at bowls, you must take rubbers.
1908 A. G. Gardiner Prophets, Priests & Kings 149 He plays at bowls, but does not look for rubbers.
1929 S. L. Gwynn Lett. & Friendships Sir C. Spring-Rice xxvii. 428 Those who play at bowls must expect rubbers: sharpness begets sharpness in reply.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

rubberv.

Brit. /ˈrʌbə/, U.S. /ˈrəbər/
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: rubber n.1
Etymology: < rubber n.1 In sense 2 short for rubberneck v.
1. transitive. To coat or cover with rubber.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with rubber or plastic > work with rubber or plastic [verb (transitive)] > coat or cover with rubber
rubber1892
rubberize1903
1892 Jrnl. Soc. Chem. Industry 30 Apr. 377/1 Under this number are comprissed [sic] all tissues, whether they have one or two coatings of rubber, and likewise those which are rubbered only between the two surfaces.
1903 Motoring Ann. 301 These tyres consist of a..canvas layer, very thickly rubbered on the edge.
1986 T. Johnson in L. Evans Overtime (1990) 185 Cloth..will be shipped to Salvador City for assembly into brassieres. Cut, rubbered and assembled; Sears will distribute them world-wide.
1998 Carriage Driving Aug.–Sept. 43/2 Many wheels are now rubbered with low profile wide tyres, which are bonded directly onto the wheel rim.
2. colloquial.
a. intransitive. Originally U.S. = rubberneck v. 1. Also with around, at, for, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (intransitive)] > look around
to look abouta1200
to look round?1505
to look around1600
skim1817
rubber1896
1896 G. Ade Artie xi. 100 About a dozen ringers followed us in and stood around rubberin.
1899 W. J. Kountz Billy Baxter's Lett. 4 Up there you are likely any minute to come face to face with an Apache or some leftover Aztec rubbering around among the trees.
1908 G. H. Lorimer Jack Spurlock iv. 71 Oh, the fat little bachelor, who rubbers at the girls from a window of the Ascot Club every afternoon!
1924 Chambers's Jrnl. 16 Feb. 190/2 I was a young man rubbering down on the border when I first heard of this valley.
1930 Living Age 1 Apr. 183 Bill Coyote..was loping around the trail and rubbering for eats.
1974 P. De Vries Glory of Hummingbird (1975) ii. 13 The oncoming cleric who could be seen from the curtained window at which we all rubbered to be even now approaching.
2006 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 15 Sept. (Features section) 17 I find my eyes rubbering round my environment, moiling for something else to fulminate against.
b. intransitive. North American colloquial. To listen (in) on a party telephone line, or on any telephone conversation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > hear [verb (intransitive)] > listen > eavesdrop > on telephone
to listen in1905
rubber1905
1905 Telephone Mag. June (Advt. section) 37 This telephone is equipped with a simple push button device which enables you to call central without any other party on your line being aware of the fact and ‘rubbering’ in.
1920 S. Lewis Main St. xv. 189 Say, did you hear me putting one over on these goats that are always rubbering in on party-wires? I hope they heard me!
1948 Southern Folklore Q. Sept. 191 She's always rubberin' on a party line.
1963 G. H. Thomson Crocus Country xxxviii. 237 No one thought it much of a crime to ‘rubber’, as it helped to pass the time for isolated people.
2005 C. A. Jacob Destiny or Deceit vii. 70 He can see Angie from the phone booth to make sure she isn't rubbering in.

Derivatives

ˈrubbered adj. coated or covered with rubber.
ΚΠ
1907 Westm. Gaz. 20 Nov. 4/2 A series of layers, composed of rubbered cords.
1947 Antioch Rev. 7 363 She placed two plates of food..on a hard rubbered tray which she gave to a ward boy who brought it over to the patients.
2002 Daily Post (Liverpool) (Nexis) 3 Oct. 20 These are the hands that clasped the rubbered handle of a cricket bat in one of the most successful England teams in living memory.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.11478n.21573n.31751v.1892
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