the rub
noun
formal
: something that causes a difficulty or problem
She's an amazing cook, but she rarely has time to make meals. There's the rub.
Therein/There lies the rub.
Examples of the rub in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In their roles, Beane and McDermott own the highest regular-season winning percentages in club history by a lot — and there’s the rub.
—
Tim Graham, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
But here’s the rub: Romney was factually accurate about the statistic, even if his extrapolation that those millions of Americans view themselves as victims deserving of government hand-outs was dubious.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 24 Sep. 2025
And there’s the rub that Predators so deftly explores.
—Jason Newman, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2025
Penske says roughly 20% of Google searches leading to its sites now display AI Overviews — and, here’s the rub, that those summaries lift material from publishers’ work, answer the user’s query directly on the results page, and keep readers from clicking through.
—Andy Meek, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
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Tim Graham, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
But here’s the rub: Romney was factually accurate about the statistic, even if his extrapolation that those millions of Americans view themselves as victims deserving of government hand-outs was dubious.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 24 Sep. 2025
And there’s the rub that Predators so deftly explores.
—Jason Newman, Rolling Stone, 20 Sep. 2025
Penske says roughly 20% of Google searches leading to its sites now display AI Overviews — and, here’s the rub, that those summaries lift material from publishers’ work, answer the user’s query directly on the results page, and keep readers from clicking through.
—Andy Meek, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for the rub
Cite this Entry
“The rub.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20rub. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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