rubber

/ˈrʌbər/

/ˈrʌbə/

Other forms: rubbers; rubbered; rubbering

Rubber is the material that's used to make things like bouncy balls, rain boots, and car tires. Most rubber comes partly from rubber trees.

To make rubber, manufacturers harvest latex from rubber trees by tapping them — the process is similar to collecting sap from maple trees. It's then refined and processed, often with other materials, to make things ranging from conveyer belts in factories to balloons and the gloves doctors wear. When rubber first arrived in Europe in the 1700s, it was made into erasers, and the idea of rubbing out mistakes led to the word rubber being coined.

Definitions of rubber

1. noun

   an elastic material obtained from the latex sap of trees (especially trees of the genera Hevea and Ficus) that can be vulcanized and finished into a variety of products
   synonyms: India rubber, caoutchouc, gum elastic, natural rubber

   types:

   foam rubber

   spongy rubber; made by introducing air bubbles before vulcanization and used for cushioning or upholstery

   crepe rubber

   crude natural rubber; used mainly for shoe soles

   cold rubber

   a rubber made at low temperatures (5 degrees Centigrade) which is tougher than conventional rubber and is often used in car tires

   ebonite, hard rubber, vulcanite

   a hard nonresilient rubber formed by vulcanizing natural rubber

   Para rubber

   a type of natural rubber obtained from tropical South American trees

   type of:

   latex

   a milky exudate from certain plants that coagulates on exposure to air
2. noun

   any of various synthetic elastic materials whose properties resemble natural rubber
   synonyms: synthetic rubber

   types:

   silicone rubber

   made from silicone elastomers; retains flexibility resilience and tensile strength over a wide temperature range

   neoprene

   a synthetic rubber that is resistant to oils and aging; used in waterproof products

   buna, buna rubber

   made by polymerizing butadiene

   butyl rubber

   synthetic rubber made by polymerizing isobutylene

   type of:

   synthetic, synthetic substance

   a compound made artificially by chemical reactions
3. noun

   an eraser made of rubber (or of a synthetic material with properties similar to rubber); commonly mounted at one end of a pencil
   synonyms: pencil eraser, rubber eraser

   type of:

   eraser

   an implement used to erase something
4. noun

   a waterproof overshoe that protects shoes from water or snow
   synonyms: arctic, galosh, golosh, gumshoe

   type of:

   overshoe

   footwear that protects your shoes from water or snow or cold
5. noun

   contraceptive device consisting of a sheath of thin rubber or latex that is worn over the penis during intercourse
   type of:

   birth control device, contraceptive, contraceptive device, preventative, preventive, prophylactic device

   an agent or device intended to prevent conception
6. verb

   coat or impregnate with rubber
   synonyms: rubberise, rubberize

   type of:

   coat, surface

   put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface
7. adjective

   returned for lack of funds
   “a rubber check”

   synonyms: no-good

   bad

   having undesirable or negative qualities