[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/rubber/)

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# rubber

noun (rubber, a rubber, rubbers); adjective use (a rubber ball, rubber boots)

«rubber» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Rubber is a soft, stretchy material that bounces and keeps water out; it is made from the sap of rubber trees or from chemicals. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#m1)
2. In the UK, Ireland and Australia a rubber is a small block you use to rub out pencil marks; in the USA this is called an eraser. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#m2)
3. Rubber can mean things made of it, such as tyres, boots or gloves. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#m3)
4. A rubber can also be a pad or bundle of material used to rub something clean. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#m4)

### In the lessons

In science rubber is a good example of a stretchy (elastic) material and of an insulator: electricity does not pass through it easily, so tools for electricians have rubber handles. In everyday life it means boots, gloves, bands, balls and tyres; rubber soles grip and stop slipping. At school a pupil may ask to borrow a rubber to fix a mistake. Phrases: rubber band, rubber boots (wellies), rubber gloves, rubber duck, rubber stamp.

### Examples

- The ball is made of rubber, so it bounces high. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x1)
- Can I borrow your rubber? I wrote the wrong number. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x2)
- Mum wears rubber gloves to wash the dishes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x3)
- Put a rubber band around the cards so they don't fall out. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x4)
- Rubber does not let electricity pass through it easily. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x5)
- My rubber boots kept my feet dry in the puddles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x6)
- The car's tyres are made of rubber. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x7)
- Rubber comes from a white sap called latex that drips from rubber trees. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x8)
- I got heather and I made a rubber of it, and I set him upright in the caldron. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/#x9)

### Note

As a material it is uncountable (made of rubber, some rubber); as the thing for rubbing out it is countable (a rubber, two rubbers). In the USA say «eraser» — «rubber» there can sound like slang, so pupils in America use «eraser». Not the same as «robber» (a thief). Rubber is not a perfect insulator when wet, so never touch electric things with wet hands even in rubber gloves.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «rubber» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/rubber/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«rubber» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/rubber.html) on Mova free.