rough-and-tumble vs rub

rough-and-tumble

verb
  • Engage in rough-and-tumble activity 

noun
  • An environment of rough activity 

  • Rough activity; fighting or brawling; a fight. 

  • A person who characteristically engages in such activity 

adj
  • active, vigorous and rough, with the possibility of harm 

  • highly competitive 

rub

verb
  • To move (one object) while maintaining contact with another object over some area, with pressure and friction. 

  • To scour; to burnish; to polish; to brighten; to cleanse; often with up or over. 

  • To hinder; to cross; to thwart. 

  • To touch the jack with the bowl. 

  • To be rubbed against something. 

  • To rub something against (a second thing). 

  • To spread a substance thinly over; to smear. 

noun
  • A loan. 

  • An act of rubbing. 

  • In the game of crown green bowls, any obstacle by which a bowl is diverted from its normal course. 

  • Any substance designed to be applied by rubbing. 

  • A mixture of spices applied to meat before it is barbecued. 

  • A difficulty or problem. 

How often have the words rough-and-tumble and rub occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )