Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913 + 1828)
Ru*ba"to (?), a. [It.] Robbed; borrowed.
Temple rubato. [It.] (Mus.) Borrowed time; -- a term applied to a style of performance in which some tones are held longer than their legitimate time, while others are proportionally curtailed.
Rub"bage (?; 48), n. Rubbish. [Obs.]
Rub"ber (?), n.
1. One who, or that which, rubs. Specifically: (a) An instrument or thing used in rubbing, polishing, or cleaning. (b) A coarse file, or the rough part of a file. (c) A whetstone; a rubstone. (d) An eraser, usually made of caoutchouc. (e) The cushion of an electrical machine. (f) One who performs massage, especially in a Turkish bath. (g) Something that chafes or annoys; hence, something that grates on the feelings; a sarcasm; a rub.
2. In some games, as whist, the odd game, as the third or the fifth, when there is a tie between the players; as, to play the rubber; also, a contest determined by the winning of two out of three games; as, to play a rubber of whist. Beaconsfield. A rubber of cribbage." Dickens.
3. India rubber; caoutchouc.
4. An overshoe made of India rubber. [Colloq.]
<-- 5. A condom. [Colloq.] -->
Antimony rubber, an elastic durable variety of vulcanized caoutchouc of a red color. It contains antimony sulphide as an important constituent. -- Hard rubber, a kind of vulcanized caoutchouc which nearly resembles horn in texture, rigidity, etc. -- India rubber, caoutchouc. See Caoutchouc. -- Rubber cloth, cloth covered with caoutchouc for excluding water or moisture. -- Rubber dam (Dentistry), a shield of thin sheet rubber clasped around a tooth to exclude saliva from the tooth.
Rub"bidge (?), n. Rubbish. [Obs.]
Rub"bing, a. & n. from Rub, v.
Rub"bish (?), n. [OE. robows, robeux, rubble, originally an Old French plural from an assumed dim. of robe, probably in the sense of trash; cf. It. robaccia trash, roba stuff, goods, wares, robe. Thus, etymologically rubbish is the pl. of rubble. See Robe, and cf. Rubble.] Waste or rejected matter; anything worthless; valueless stuff; trash; especially, fragments of building materials or fallen buildings; ruins; débris.
What rubbish and what offal!
he saw the town's one half in rubbish lie.
Rubbish pulley. See Gin block, under Gin.
Rub"bish (?), a. Of or pertaining to rubbish; of the quality of rubbish; trashy.
Rub"ble (?), n. [From an assumed Old French dim. of robe See Rubbish.]
1. Water-worn or rough broken stones; broken bricks, etc., used in coarse masonry, or to fill up between the facing courses of walls.
Inside [the wall] there was rubble or mortar.
Jowett (Thucyd. ).
2. Rough stone as it comes from the quarry; also, a quarryman's term for the upper fragmentary and decomposed portion of a mass of stone; brash.
Brande & C.
3. (Geol.) A mass or stratum of fragments or rock lying under the alluvium, and derived from the neighboring rock.
4. pl. The whole of the bran of wheat before it is sorted into pollard, bran, etc. [Prov.Eng.]
Coursed rubble, rubble masonry in which courses are formed by leveling off the work at certain heights.
Rub"ble*stone` (?), n. See Rubble, 1 and 2.
Rub"ble*work` (?), n. Masonry constructed of unsquared stones that are irregular in size and shape.
Rub"bly (?), a. Relating to, or containing, rubble.
Ru*bed"i*nous (?), a. [L. rubedo redness, fr. rubere to be red.] Reddish. [R.]
Ru`be*fa"cient (?), a. [L. rubefaciens, p.pr. of rubefacere to make red; rubere to be red + facere to make.] Making red. -- n. (Med.) An external application which produces redness of the skin.
Ru`be*fac"tion (?), n. The act or process of making red.
Ru"be*let (r&udd;"b&esl;*l&ecr;t), n. A little ruby.
Ru*bel"la (?), n. [NL., fr. L. rubellus reddish.] (Med.) An acute specific disease with a dusky red cutaneous eruption resembling that of measles, but unattended by catarrhal symptoms; -- called also German measles.
Ru*bell" (?), n. [L. rubellus reddish.] A red color used in enameling.
Ru"bel*lite (?), n. [L. rubellus reddish, dim. of ruber red.] (Min.) A variety of tourmaline varying in color from a pale rose to a deep ruby, and containing lithium.
Ru*be"o*la (?), n. [NL., fr. L. ruber red.] (Med.) (a) the measles. (b) Rubella.
Ru`ber*y*thrin"ic (?), a. [L. ruber red + erythrin.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid extracted from madder root. It is a yellow crystalline substance from which alizarin is obtained.
Ru*bes"cence (?), n. The quality or state of being rubescent; a reddening; a flush.
Ru*bes"cent (?), a. [L. rubescens, -entis, p.pr. of rubescere to grow red, v. incho from rubere to be red: cf. F. rubescent. See Ruby.] Growing or becoming red; tending to redness.
Ru`bi*a"ceous (?), a. [L. rubia madder, fr. rubeus red.] (Bot.) Of or pertaining to a very large natural order of plants (Rubiaceæ) named after the madder (Rubia tinctoria), and including about three hundred and seventy genera and over four thousand species. Among them are the coffee tree, the trees yielding peruvian bark and quinine, the madder, the quaker ladies, and the trees bearing the edible fruits called genipap and Sierre Leone peach, besides many plants noted for the beauty or the fragrance of their blossoms.
Ru"bi*a*cin (?), n. [L. rubia madder, fr. rubeus red.] (Chem) A substance found in madder root, and probably identical with ruberythrinic acid.
Ru"bi*an (?), n. [L. rubia madder, fr. rubeus red.] (Chem.) One of several color-producing glycosides found in madder root.
Ru`bi*an"ic (?), a. (Chem.) pertaining to, or derived from, rubian; specifically, designating an acid called also ruberythrinic acid. [Obs.]
Ru" bi*ble (?), n. A ribble. [Obs.]
Ru"bi*can (?), a. [F.] Colored a prevailing red, bay, or black, with flecks of white or gray especially on the flanks; -- said of horses.
Ru"bi*celle (?), n. [Cf. F. rubacelle, rubicelle, fr. L. rubeus red, reddish.] (Min.) A variety of ruby of a yellowish red color, from Brazil.
Ru"bi*con (?), n. (Anc. geog.) A small river which separated Italy from Cisalpine Gaul, the province alloted to Julius Cæsar.
&hand; By leading an army across this river, contrary to the prohibition of the civil government at Rome, Cæsar precipitated the civil war which resulted in the death of Pompey and the overthrow of the senate; hence, the phrase to pass or cross the Rubicon signifies to take the decisive step by which one is committed to a hazardous enterprise from which there is no retreat.
Ru"bi*cund (?), a. [L. rubicundus, fr. rubere to be red, akin to ruber red. See Red.] Inclining to redness; ruddy; red. His rubicund face."
Ru`bi*cun"di*ty (?), n. [LL. rubicunditas.] The quality or state of being rubicund; ruddiness.
To parade your rubicundity and gray hairs.
Ru*bid"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Of or pertaining to rubidium; containing rubidium.
Ru"bi*dine (? ∨ ?), n. (Chem.) A nitrogenous base homologous with pyridine, obtained from coal tar as an oily liquid, C11H17N; also, any one of the group od metameric compounds of which rubidine is the type.
Ru*bid"i*um (?), n. [NL., fr. L. rubidus red, fr. rubere to be red. So called from two dark red spectroscopic lines by means of which it was discovered in the lepidolite from Rozena, Moravia. See Rubicund.] (Chem.) A rare metallic element. It occurs quite widely, but in small quantities, and always combined. It is isolated as a soft yellowish white metal, analogous to potassium in most of its properties. Symbol Rb. Atomic weight, 85.2.
Ru*bif"ic (?), a. [L. ruber red + facere to make.] Making red; as, rubific rays.
Ru`bi*fca"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. rubification.] The act of making red.
Ru"bi*form (?), a. [L. ruber red + -form.] Having the nature or quality of red; as, the rubiform rays of the sun. [R.]
Sir I. newton.
Ru"bi*fy (?), v. t. [Cf. F. rubéfier. See Rubific.] To redden. [R.] Waters rubifying."
Ru*big"i*nose` (?), Ru*big"i*nous (?), a. [L. rubiginosus, fr. rubigo, robigo, rust: cf. F. rubigineux.] (Bot.) Having the appearance or color of iron rust; rusty-looking.
Ru*bi"go (?), n. [L. rubigo, robigo, rust of metals, rust, blight.] (bot.) same as Rust, n., 2.
Ru"bin (?), n. [Cf. LL. rubinus, It. rubino. See Ruby.] A ruby. [Obs.]
Ru"bi*ous (?), a. [L. rubeus, fr. rubere to be red. See Rouge.] Red; ruddy. [Obs.]
Ru`bi*re"tin (?), n. [Rubian + Gr. resin.] (Chem.) One of the red dye products extracted from madder root, and probably identical with ruberythrinic acid.
Ru"ble (?), n. [Russ. ruble.] The unit of monetary value in Russia. <-- and, 1917-1992, in the Soviet Union --> It is divided into 100 copecks, and in the gold coin of the realm (as in the five and ten ruble pieces) is worth about 77 cents. The silver ruble is a coin worth about 60 cents. [Written also rouble.]<-- After the severe inflation of 1992-1996, the ruble is now exchanged at 5000 rubles to the dollar. Th Kopeck is no longer minted or used in trade, the smallest coin (1996) being the ruble. -->
(d) Hence, that which is established or settled, as by authority; a thing definitely settled or fixed.
Nay, as a duty, it had no place or rubric in human conceptions before Christianity.
<-- category, class, classification
under the rubric of, (See def. (b)) in the category of -->
Ru"bric, v. t. To adorn ith red; to redden; to rubricate. [R.]
Ru"bric (?), Ru"bric*al (?), a.
1. Colored in, or marked with, red; placed in rubrics.
What though my name stood rubric on the walls
Or plaistered posts, with claps, in capitals?
2. Of or pertaining to the rubric or rubrics. Rubrical eccentricities."
Ru"bri*cate (?), a. [L. rubricatus p.p. of rubricare to color red. See Rubric, n.] Marked with red.
Ru"bri*cate (?), v. t. To mark or distinguished with red; to arrange as in a rubric; to establish in a settled and unchangeable form.
A system . . . according to which the thoughts of men were to be classed and rubricated forever after.
Ru*bri"cian (?), Ru"bri*cist (?), n. One skilled in, or tenaciously adhering to, the rubric or rubrics.
Ru*bric"i*ty (?), n. Redness. [R.]
Rub"stone` (?), n. A stone for scouring or rubbing; a whetstone; a rub.
Ru"bus (?), n. [L.] (Bot.) A genus of rosaceous plants, including the raspberry and blackberry.
Ru"by (?), n.; pl. Rubies (#). [F. rubis (cf. Pr. robi), LL. rubinus, robinus, fr. L. rubeus red, reddish, akin to ruber. See Rouge, red.]
1. (Min.) A precious stone of a carmine red color, sometimes verging to violet, or intermediate between carmine and hyacinth red. It is a red crystallized variety of corundum.
&hand; Besides the true or Oriental ruby above defined, there are the balas ruby, or ruby spinel, a red variety of spinel, and the rock ruby, a red variety of garnet.
<-- artificially produced variants are used in jewelry and in lasers. -->
Of rubies, sapphires, and pearles white.
The natural ruby of your cheeks.
3. That which has the color of the ruby, as red wine. Hence, a red blain or carbuncle.
4. (Print.) See Agate, n., 2. [Eng.]
5. (Zoöl.) Any species of South American humming birds of the genus Clytolæma. The males have a ruby-colored throat or breast.
Ruby of arsenic, Ruby of sulphur (Chem.), a glassy substance of a red color and a variable composition, but always consisting chiefly of the disulphide of arsenic; -- called also ruby sulphur. -- Ruby of zinc (Min.), zinc sulphide; the mineral zinc blende or sphalerite. -- Ruby silver (Min.), red silver. See under Red.
Ru"by, a. Ruby-colored; red; as, ruby lips.
Ru"by, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Rubied (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Rubying.] To make red; to redden. [R.]
Ru"by*tail` (?), n. (Zoöl.) A European gold wasp (Chrysis ignita) which has the under side of the abdomen bright red, and the other parts deep bluish green with a metallic luster. The larva is parasitic in the nests of other wasps and of bees.
Ru"by-tailed` (?), a. Having the tail, or lower part of the body, bright red.
Ru"by*throat` (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of humming birds belonging to Trochilus, Calypte, Stellula, and allies, in which the male has on the throat a brilliant patch of red feathers having metallic reflections; esp., the common humming bird of the Eastern United States (Trochilus colubris).
Ru"by*wood` (?), n. red sandalwood. See under Sandalwood.
Ru*cer"vine (?), a. [NL. Rucervus, the genus, fr. NL. Rusa a certain genus of deer (Malay rsa deer) + Cervus.] (Zoöl.) Of, like, or pertaining to, a deer of the genus Rucervus, which includes the swamp deer of India.
Ruche (?), n. [F. ruche ruche, beehive, OF. rusche a beehive, which was formerly made of the bark of trees; cf. W. rhisg, rhisgl, bark, gael. rusg bark, rind.]
1. A plaited, quilled, or goffered strip of lace, net, ribbon, or other material, -- used in place of collars or cuffs, and as a trimming for women's dresses and bonnets. [Written also rouche.]
2. A pile of arched tiles, used to catch and retain oyster spawn.
Ruch"ing, n. A ruche, or ruches collectively.
Ruck (?), n. A roc. [Obs. or prov. Eng.]
Ruck, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Rucked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Rucking.] [Icel hrukkast to wrinkle, hrukka wrinkle, fold.] To draw into wrinkles or unsightly folds; to crease; as, to ruck up a carpet.
Ruck, n. [Icel. hrukka. Cf. Ruck, v. t.] A wrinkle or crease in a piece of cloth, or in needlework.
Ruck, v. i. [Cf. Dan. ruge to brood, to hatch.] To cower; to huddle together; to squat; to sit, as a hen on eggs. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
The sheep that rouketh in the fold.
Ruck, n. [Cf. Ruck.]
1. A heap; a rick. [Prov Eng. & Scot.]
2. The common sort, whether persons or things; as, the ruck in a horse race. [Colloq.]
The ruck in society as a whole.
Lond. Sat. Rev.
Ruc*ta"tion (?), n. [L. ructatio, fr. ructare to belch: cf. F. ructation.] The act of belching wind.
Ruc"tion (?), n. An uproar; a quarrel; a noisy outbreak. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
Rud (?), n. [AS. rudu, akin to reád red. &root;113. See Red, and cf. Ruddy.]
1. Redness; blush. [Obs.]
2. Ruddle; red ocher.
3. (Zoöl.) The rudd.
Rud, v. t. To make red. [Obs.]
Rudd (?), n. [See Rud, n.] (Zoöl.) A fresh-water European fish of the Carp family (Leuciscus erythrophthalmus). It is about the size and shape of the roach, but it has the dorsal fin farther back, a stouter body, and red irises. Called also redeye, roud, finscale, and shallow. A blue variety is called azurine, or blue roach.
Rud"der (?), n. A riddle or sieve. [Prov. Eng.]