"rubbing" in the noun sense
1. friction, rubbing
the resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another
2. rubbing
representation consisting of a copy (as of an engraving) made by laying paper over something and rubbing it with charcoal
3. friction, detrition, rubbing
effort expended in moving one object over another with pressure
"rubbing" in the verb sense
1. rub
move over something with pressure
"rub my hands"
"rub oil into her skin"
2. rub, fray, fret, chafe, scratch
cause friction
"my sweater scratches"
3. rub, scratch, itch
scrape or rub as if to relieve itching
"Don't scratch your insect bites!"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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