RUBBER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rubber mean? 

• RUBBER (noun)
  The noun RUBBER has 6 senses:

1. an elastic material obtained from the latex sap of trees (especially trees of the genera Hevea and Ficus) that can be vulcanized and finished into a variety of products

2. any of various synthetic elastic materials whose properties resemble natural rubber

3. a contest consisting of a series of successive matches between the same sides

4. an eraser made of rubber (or of a synthetic material with properties similar to rubber); commonly mounted at one end of a pencil

5. contraceptive device consisting of a sheath of thin rubber or latex that is worn over the penis during intercourse

6. a waterproof overshoe that protects shoes from water or snow

  Familiarity information: RUBBER used as a noun is common.

• RUBBER (adjective)
  The adjective RUBBER has 1 sense:

1. returned for lack of funds

  Familiarity information: RUBBER used as an adjective is very rare.

• RUBBER (verb)
  The verb RUBBER has 1 sense:

1. coat or impregnate with rubber

  Familiarity information: RUBBER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUBBER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An elastic material obtained from the latex sap of trees (especially trees of the genera Hevea and Ficus) that can be vulcanized and finished into a variety of products

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

caoutchouc; gum elastic; India rubber; natural rubber; rubber

Hypernyms ("rubber" is a kind of...):

latex (a milky exudate from certain plants that coagulates on exposure to air)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rubber"):

foam rubber (spongy rubber; made by introducing air bubbles before vulcanization and used for cushioning or upholstery)

crepe rubber (crude natural rubber; used mainly for shoe soles)

cold rubber (a rubber made at low temperatures (5 degrees Centigrade) which is tougher than conventional rubber and is often used in car tires)

ebonite; hard rubber; vulcanite (a hard nonresilient rubber formed by vulcanizing natural rubber)

Para rubber (a type of natural rubber obtained from tropical South American trees)

Derivation:

rubber; rubberize (coat or impregnate with rubber)

rubbery (having an elastic texture resembling rubber in flexibility or toughness)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of various synthetic elastic materials whose properties resemble natural rubber

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

rubber; synthetic rubber

Hypernyms ("rubber" is a kind of...):

synthetic; synthetic substance (a compound made artificially by chemical reactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rubber"):

silicone rubber (made from silicone elastomers; retains flexibility resilience and tensile strength over a wide temperature range)

neoprene (a synthetic rubber that is resistant to oils and aging; used in waterproof products)

buna; buna rubber (made by polymerizing butadiene)

butyl rubber (synthetic rubber made by polymerizing isobutylene)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A contest consisting of a series of successive matches between the same sides

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

he won three out of five games to take the rubber

Hypernyms ("rubber" is a kind of...):

competition; contest (an occasion on which a winner is selected from among two or more contestants)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An eraser made of rubber (or of a synthetic material with properties similar to rubber); commonly mounted at one end of a pencil

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pencil eraser; rubber; rubber eraser

Hypernyms ("rubber" is a kind of...):

eraser (an implement used to erase something)

Holonyms ("rubber" is a part of...):

pencil (a thin cylindrical pointed writing implement; a rod of marking substance encased in wood)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Contraceptive device consisting of a sheath of thin rubber or latex that is worn over the penis during intercourse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

condom; prophylactic; rubber; safe; safety

Hypernyms ("rubber" is a kind of...):

birth control device; contraceptive; contraceptive device; preventative; preventive; prophylactic device (an agent or device intended to prevent conception)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A waterproof overshoe that protects shoes from water or snow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

arctic; galosh; golosh; gumshoe; rubber

Hypernyms ("rubber" is a kind of...):

overshoe (footwear that protects your shoes from water or snow or cold)

• RUBBER (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Returned for lack of funds

Synonyms:

no-good; rubber

Context example:

a no-good check

Similar:

bad (having undesirable or negative qualities)

Domain category:

banking (transacting business with a bank; depositing or withdrawing funds or requesting a loan etc.)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

• RUBBER (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Coat or impregnate with rubber

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

rubber; rubberise; rubberize

Context example:

rubberize fabric for rain coats

Hypernyms (to "rubber" is one way to...):

coat; surface (put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

rubber (an elastic material obtained from the latex sap of trees (especially trees of the genera Hevea and Ficus) that can be vulcanized and finished into a variety of products)

 Context examples 

Get me my rubbers, and put these slippers with our things.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Of my final re-transformation from India-rubber back to flesh?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I have not had my rubber.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Lady Middleton proposed a rubber of Casino to the others.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

The natural extract of tropical rubber plants.

(Natural Rubber, NCI Thesaurus)

As yet Sir Thomas had seen nothing to remark in Mr. Crawford's behaviour; but when the whist-table broke up at the end of the second rubber, and leaving Dr.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Emma thanked him, but could not allow of his disappointing his friend on their account; her father was sure of his rubber.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

To make the yarns highly elastic, they introduced so much twist that the yarns coiled like an over-twisted rubber band.

(Energy-Harvesting Yarns Generate Electricity, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

You might put ME into a Jail, with genteel society and a rubber, and I should never care to come out.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It was shown that, after dinner on the day of his death, he had played a rubber of whist at the latter club.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)