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rub off on

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rub off on(to) someone or something

[for something, such as a coating] to become transferred to someone or something through the contact of rubbing. Look what rubbed off on me! The wet paint rubbed off onto my pants leg.

See also: off, on, rub

rub off on

Become transferred to another, influence through close contact, as in We hoped some of their good manners would rub off on our children. This idiom alludes to transferring something like paint to another substance by rubbing against it. [Mid-1900s]

See also: off, on, rub