rub down

1. 1.

   wear away

   Synonymsabradecorradeabraserub off

   Broaderwear away

   Narrowerchaferasp
2. 2.

   manually manipulate (someone's body), usually for medicinal or relaxation purposes

   “She rubbed down her child with a sponge”

   Synonymsmassageknead

   Broadermanipulate

Questions about rub down

What does rub down mean?

rub down means "wear away". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for rub down?

Close synonyms include abrade, corrade, abrase, rub off, massage. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is rub down a common word?

rub down is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.