From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrub off phrasal verb1 REMOVEto remove something from a surface by rubbing it, or to come off a surface because of being rubbedrub something off something Jack rubbed the mud off his face.rub something ↔ off She rubbed off her lipstick and eye shadow. Some of the gold paint had begun to rub off.2 GIVEif a feeling, quality, or habit rubs off on you, you start to have it because you are with another person who has it on She refused to give up, and her confidence rubbed off on the others. → rub→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
rub on• I ask him if he thinks any-thing I have done has rubbed off on him.• Clearly Richard's disgusting motoring habits were beginning to rub off on me.• The second has caused much confusion, some of it deliberate, which has plainly rubbed off on Mr Dalyell.• She has a directness that rubs off on others.• Grover might be rubbing off on Ralph, but Ralph was still Ralph.• Some of that spirit has also rubbed off on the army and police, Stambolic said.• Sometimes that attitude rubbed off on the children: It was easy to offend middle-class pride.• The increasing hostility to affirmative action has rubbed off on the diversity movement. 