rub off
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to transfer or pass on a quality or habit
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
truyền hoặc chuyển một tính cách hoặc thói quen
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to remove by friction
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Her enthusiasm rubs off on everyone in the office
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “rub off” mean?
to transfer or pass on a quality or habit Literally: to remove by friction
Is “rub off” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.