to rub down
- phrasal verb
:
lijar
- After sanding, I always rub down the wood to remove any rough spots.
Examples
-
Oh my God, white paint chalk because the first job for me is basically rubbing down the whole pink bedroom.
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Like it's, it's plastic so it can't be like rubbed down like the paper Braille can be.
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I I rub down all my tools with three in one oil.
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To make the table smooth, you should rub down its surface with fine sandpaper.
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Before painting, be sure to rub down the walls to ensure the paint adheres properly.
Synonyms
62
1.2
To rub material off a surface with something hard or sharp
54
1.1
To make a surface even by rubbing or pressing
46
1.1
To make something smooth and shiny by rubbing it
17
4.4
To polish something by rubbing until it is smooth or shiny
11
7.1
To make a surface smooth and shiny by rubbing
5
8.1
The surface wears away when something rubs or scrapes it
3
5.2
To rub a surface with a small rough tool to remove something
2
3.8
To slowly remove material by rubbing or long use
2
6.1
Wear a surface away slowly by rubbing, or make someone very tired
1
3.8
To make something less rough by pressing it flat or by calming people
1
4.0
To make a surface smooth and shiny by rubbing or polishing
1
6.7
Wear away skin or material by rubbing
1
3.4
Remove a mark by moving a cloth or hand over it many times
1
4.7
To remove the top layer of something by rubbing it with sandpaper
Wear away the surface of something by rubbing or scraping
To wear away a surface slowly by rubbing
To wear a surface down by rubbing
To make a surface flat and even by rubbing or polishing
To make fabric smooth by removing folds
To rub something so it becomes damaged at the edges
To wear away rock when water or wind rubs it
Antonyms
How Smooth
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to massage or clean by rubbing' is directly built from 'rub' (apply repeated pressure/motion) plus the particle 'down' which here signals thoroughness or direction along a surface; together they predict a meaning of rubbing something over/along its surface to clean or soothe. This verb+particle composition is a common, compositionally transparent pattern in English (and similar constructions exist in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Rub down gives the image of using sandpaper or a tool to rub a surface down again and again until rough bits are gone, like sanding wood. So, rub down means 'to wear away the surface' or 'make it smooth'.