the rub

Idioms

The difficulty or problem, as in We'd love to come but there's the rub—we can't get reservations. This expression may come from lawn bowling, where rub refers to an unevenness in the ground that impedes the ball. Its most famous use is in one of Hamlet's soliloquies (Hamlet, 3:1): “To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come ... Must give us pause.” [Late 1500s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But here’s the rub: The Ecke farming family, who grew and promoted poinsettias into a holiday staple, did their job too well.

From Los Angeles Times

Here is the rub: Microsoft in its financial reports identifies OpenAI as an equity-method investment.

From The Wall Street Journal

That’s where the rub came for Sarmiento and other Dodgers fans.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s the rub: No one knows for sure what’s coming next.

From Slate

For Warner management, that’s part of the rub.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023