<B>rubberneck, </B>noun, verb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) <DD><I>noun </I> a sightseer, especially an unsophisticated one or any other person who stares and gapes. <BR> <I>Ex. A good-sized crowd of rubbernecks quickly gathered, anxious to see who had been bold enough to jaywalk when the heat was on (New Yorker).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to stare or gape. <BR> <I>Ex. Everyone has gone ashore to buy, to drink, to rubberneck (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to go sightseeing. <BR> <I>Ex. He rubbernecked through Cairo last week (Time).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or for sightseeing. <BR> <I>Ex. a rubberneck tour. She had flown through the Middle East with rubberneck stops at Beirut, Damascus, Amman, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv (Time).</I> noun <B>rubbernecker.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="rubberplant">
<B>rubber plant,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any plant yielding rubber. <DD><B> 2. </B>an ornamental house plant native to tropical Asia with oblong, shining, leathery leaves. It belongs to the same genus as the fig and to the mulberry family. </DL>
<A NAME="rubberstamp">
<B>rubber stamp,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a stamp made of rubber, used with ink for printing dates, signatures, or special imprints. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) a person or group that approves or endorses something without thought or without power to refuse. <BR> <I>Ex. Russia charged that the General Assembly was merely a rubber stamp (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rubberstamp">
<B>rubber-stamp, </B>verb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to print or sign with a rubber stamp. <BR> <I>Ex. He read through my sheaf of papers and rubber-stamped each of them three or four times (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) to approve or endorse (as a policy or bill) without thought or without power to refuse. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>using a rubber stamp. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) that approves or endorses without thought or without power to refuse. </DL>
<A NAME="rubbertree">
<B>rubber tree,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a tree from which rubber is produced, such as the hevea. </DL>
<A NAME="rubbery">
<B>rubbery, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like rubber; elastic; tough. </DL>
<A NAME="rubbing">
<B>rubbing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a reproduction of an engraved or sculptured design obtained by pressing a thin tough paper such as parchment, onto the surface and rubbing it with crayon, charcoal, or other solid coloring matter. <BR> <I>Ex. These rubbings from medieval English brass plates commemorate the contemporary nobility (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rubbingalcohol">
<B>rubbing alcohol,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a solution of denatured or isopropyl alcohol, usually slightly scented, used in massaging or as an antiseptic. </DL>
<A NAME="rubbingtable">
<B>rubbing table,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a table to massage a person on. </DL>
<A NAME="rubbish">
<B>rubbish, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>waste stuff of no use; trash. <BR> <I>Ex. Pick up the rubbish and burn it.</I> (SYN) litter, debris, refuse. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) silly words and thoughts; nonsense. <BR> <I>Ex. Gossip is often a lot of rubbish. The jumbled rubbish of a dream (Tennyson). All this modern newspaper rubbish about a New York aristocracy (Edith Wharton).</I> </DL>
<B>rubbishy, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>full of or covered with rubbish. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or like rubbish. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) The doggerel expresses the rubbishy lives of the modern London sophisticates (Time).</I> (SYN) trashy. </DL>
<A NAME="rubble">
<B>rubble, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>rough broken stones or bricks. <BR> <I>Ex. the rubble left by an explosion or an earthquake.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>coarse masonry made of this. <BR> <I>Ex. The house was built of rubble and plaster.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> made of or like rubble. <BR> <I>Ex. rubble masonry, rubble ballast.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rubblework">
<B>rubblework, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> masonry built of rubble or roughly dressed stones. </DL>
<A NAME="rubbly">
<B>rubbly, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> full of, consisting of, or like rubble. <BR> <I>Ex. These combined with the rubbly, half-demolished buildings in the older sections to give the whole city an air of impermanence (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rubdown">
<B>rubdown, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or process of rubbing the body; massage. </DL>
<A NAME="rube">
<B>rube, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) <DD><I>noun </I> an unsophisticated person from the country; rustic. <BR> <I>Ex. Generations of comedians have vulgarized Peoria as the symbol of the rube and the boob (Saturday Evening Post).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of a rube; like rubes. <BR> <I>Ex. a rube town. One of your rube detectives should come over to my cottage (Charles Dutton).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rubeanicacid">
<B>rubeanic acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a reddish powder made from hydrogen sulfide and cyanogen, used as a reagent. </DL>
<A NAME="rubefacient">
<B>rubefacient, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> causing redness, especially of the skin. <BR> <I>Ex. a rubefacient liniment.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a rubefacient application, such as a mustard plaster. </DL>
<A NAME="rubefaction">
<B>rubefaction, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a making red. <DD><B> 2. </B>redness of the skin, especially as caused by a rubefacient. </DL>
<A NAME="rubegoldberg">
<B>Rube Goldberg,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (of an invention, device, or scheme) ridiculously complicated. <BR> <I>Ex. He called the three-gun color tube used by present manufacturers, "a Rube Goldberg contraption if there ever was one" (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<B>rubellite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a pink or red variety of tourmaline, used as a gem. </DL>
<A NAME="ruben">
<B>Ruben, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (in the Douay Bible) Reuben (1). </DL>
<A NAME="rubenesque">
<B>Rubenesque, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> suggestive or characteristic of the paintings or style of Rubens. <BR> <I>Ex. The models of his choice are of rather Rubenesque fullness (Observer).</I> </DL>
<B>rubiaceous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> belonging to the madder family. <BR> <I>Ex. The coffee plant, gardenia, and bluet are rubiaceous plants.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rubicelle">
<B>rubicelle, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a yellow or orange-red spinel. </DL>
<A NAME="rubicon">
<B>Rubicon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a limit to a course of action from which one cannot turn back. <BR><I>expr. <B>cross</B> (or <B>pass</B>) <B>the Rubicon,</B> </I>to make an important decision from which one cannot turn back. <BR> <I>Ex. [Napoleon] would ... have crossed the Rubicon at the head of the popular party (Scott).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rubicund">
<B>rubicund, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> reddish; ruddy. <BR> <I>Ex. The jolly captain had a ribicund face.</I> (SYN) florid. </DL>
<A NAME="rubicundity">
<B>rubicundity, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> rubicund quality or condition. </DL>
<A NAME="rubidium">
<B>rubidium, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a soft, silver-white metallic chemical element resembling potassium. It reacts violently in water and burns spontaneously when exposed to air. Rubidium is used in photoelectric cells. <BR> <I>Ex. Rubidium and cesium, like the other alkali metals, never occur free in nature (W. N. Jones).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="rubied">
<B>rubied, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> colored like the ruby. </DL>
<B>rubiginous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>rusty; rust-colored. <DD><B> 2. </B>(of plants) affected with rust or blight. </DL>
<A NAME="rubigo">
<B>rubigo, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a reddish ferric oxide, used as a pigment and in polishing compounds; rouge. </DL>
<A NAME="rubikscube">
<B>Rubik's Cube,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Trademark.) a plastic cube composed of 26 small blocks that can be rotated on a spindle inside. Each of the cube's sides has a different color and once they are moved about it becomes a puzzle to restore the sides to their original colors. <BR> <I>Ex. Rubik's Cube has a mere 43.2 quintillion (432 followed by 17 zeros) possible arrangements (Time).</I> </DL>
<B>ruble, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the unit of money of Russia and of the former Soviet Union, a coin or note equal to 100 kopecks. (Abbr:) r. Also, <B>rouble.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="rubor">
<B>rubor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> redness of the skin. </DL>
<A NAME="rubout">
<B>rubout, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) a murder; gangland killing. </DL>
<A NAME="rubrail">
<B>rub rail,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a protective guard on the gunwale of a boat. <DD><B> 2. </B>a metal projection on cars and trucks, as a bumper, to guard against scraping. <DD><B> 3. </B>any raillike protection. </DL>
<A NAME="rubric">
<B>rubric, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the title or heading, as of a chapter or a law, written or printed in red or in special lettering. <DD><B> 2. </B>a direction for the conducting of religious services, inserted in a prayer book or ritual. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) any heading, rule, or guide. <BR> <I>Ex. I talked to him till I was black in the face, and all I got out of him was the law and the rubrics (Frank O'Connor).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Archaic.) <DD><B> a. </B>red ocher. <DD><B> b. </B>a red color. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>=rubrical.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="rubrical">
<B>rubrical, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>red; marked with red; printed or written in red or in special lettering. <DD><B> 2. </B>of, having to do with, or according to religious rubrics. adv. <B>rubrically.</B> </DL>
