dubbin
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of dubbin
1815–25; variant of gerund of dub 1 ( def. ) (in the sense “rubbing or smoothing leather or wood”)
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.
A constant dread to Tommy when he has forgotten to polish his buttons or dubbin his boots.
From Over the Top by Empey, Arthur Guy
Folk ask me, whiles, hoo it comes that I dwell still sae far frae the centre o' the world—as they've a way o' dubbin London!
From Between You and Me by Lauder, Harry, Sir
We don't polish steel, but there is a wonderful lot of hard work in rubbing dubbin into all the leather.
From In the Ranks of the C.I.V. by Childers, Erskine
I tried to make the use of dubbin take the place of the resoling of my boots, and in my chamber, which was warmed only by my oil-stove, my garments never dried.
From In Accordance with the Evidence by Onions, Oliver [pseud.]
At eleven there was harness-cleaning, and I was sadly regarding a small remnant of dubbin and my dusty girths and leathers, when the order came for "boot and saddle," and that little job was off.
From In the Ranks of the C.I.V. by Childers, Erskine
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
