rub up
verb
rubbed up; rubbing up; rubs up
1
: to revive or refresh knowledge of : recall
2
: to improve the keenness of (a mental faculty)
Examples of rub up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Those spheres would increasingly rub up against one another, and the prospects for geopolitical fracture and great-power war would intensify.
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Peter D. Feaver, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2025
All brittleness and bile in the hands of Diego Luna, Valentín’s quiet righteousness rubs up against his cellmate’s grandiosity in all the wrong ways — at first.
—Blythe Marks, Them., 17 Oct. 2025
These florals rub up against embroidered wall coverings, striped curtains and flashes of marble.
—Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
On the second take, Russell’s bossy tone rubbed up nicely against the neediness of the moment.
—Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rub up
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Peter D. Feaver, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2025
All brittleness and bile in the hands of Diego Luna, Valentín’s quiet righteousness rubs up against his cellmate’s grandiosity in all the wrong ways — at first.
—Blythe Marks, Them., 17 Oct. 2025
These florals rub up against embroidered wall coverings, striped curtains and flashes of marble.
—Oscar Holland, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025
On the second take, Russell’s bossy tone rubbed up nicely against the neediness of the moment.
—Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rub up
Cite this Entry
“Rub up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rub%20up. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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