3 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Members of the royal family are sometimes referred to as royals . [INFORMAL ] □ The royals have always been patrons of charities pulling in large donations.
ro y|al blue COLOUR Something that is royal blue is deep blue in colour.
ro y|al fa mi|ly (royal families ) N‑COUNT The royal family of a country is the king, queen, or emperor, and all the members of their family.
Ro y|al Hi gh|ness (Royal Highnesses ) N‑COUNT Expressions such as Your Royal Highness and Their Royal Highnesses are used to address or refer to members of royal families who are not kings or queens. [POLITENESS ]
roy|al|ist /rɔ I əl I st/ (royalists ) N‑COUNT [oft N n] A royalist is someone who supports their country's royal family or who believes that their country should have a king or queen. □ He was hated by the royalists.
ro y|al je l|ly N‑UNCOUNT Royal jelly is a substance that bees make in order to feed young bees and queen bees.
roy|al|ly /rɔ I əli/ ADV [usu ADV with v, oft ADV adj] If you say that something is done royally , you are emphasizing that it is done in an impressive or grand way, or that it is very great in degree. [EMPHASIS ] □ They were royally received in every aspect.
roy|al|ty /rɔ I əlti/ (royalties )
1 N‑UNCOUNT The members of royal families are sometimes referred to as royalty . □ Royalty and government leaders from all around the world are gathering together.
2 N‑PLURAL Royalties are payments made to authors and musicians when their work is sold or performed. They usually receive a fixed percentage of the profits from these sales or performances. □ [+ on ] I lived on the royalties on my book.
3 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Payments made to someone whose invention, idea, or property is used by a commercial company can be referred to as royalties . □ The royalties enabled the inventor to re-establish himself in business.
RP /ɑː r piː / RP is a way of pronouncing British English that is often considered to be the standard accent. Pronunciations in this dictionary are given in RP. RP is an abbreviation for 'Received Pronunciation'.
rpm /ɑː r piː e m/ also r.p.m. rpm is used to indicate the speed of something by saying how many times per minute it will go round in a circle. rpm is an abbreviation for 'revolutions per minute'. □ Both engines were running at 2500 rpm.
RSI /ɑː r es a I / N‑UNCOUNT People who suffer from RSI have pain in their hands and arms as a result of repeating similar movements over a long period of time, usually as part of their job. RSI is an abbreviation for 'repetitive strain injury'. □ The women developed painful RSI because of poor working conditions.
RSS /ɑː r es e s/ N‑UNCOUNT RSS is a way of allowing internet users to receive the most recent news from particular websites as soon as it is published. □ RSS allows the delivery of news headlines directly to subscribers' PCs, cellphones or iPods, almost the instant they are published. □ …an RSS (news) feed.
RSVP /ɑː r es viː piː / also R.S.V.P. RSVP is an abbreviation for 'répondez s'il vous plaît', which means 'please reply'. It is written on the bottom of a card inviting you to a party or special occasion. [FORMAL ]
Rt Hon. /ra I t ɒ n/ ADJ Rt Hon. is used in Britain as part of the formal title of some members of the Privy Council and some judges. Rt Hon. is an abbreviation for 'Right Honourable'. □ …the Rt Hon. the Lord Provost.
rub /rʌ b/ (rubs , rubbing , rubbed )
1 VERB If you rub a part of your body, you move your hand or fingers backwards and forwards over it while pressing firmly. □ [V n] He rubbed his arms and stiff legs. □ [V prep/adv] 'I fell in a ditch', he said, rubbing at a scrape on his hand.
2 VERB If you rub against a surface or rub a part of your body against a surface, you move it backwards and forwards while pressing it against the surface. □ [V prep] A cat was rubbing against my leg. □ [V n prep] He kept rubbing his leg against mine.
3 VERB If you rub an object or a surface, you move a cloth backward and forward over it in order to clean or dry it. □ [V n] She took off her glasses and rubbed them hard. □ [V ] He rubbed and rubbed but couldn't seem to get clean.
4 VERB If you rub a substance into a surface or rub something such as dirt from a surface, you spread it over the surface or remove it from the surface using your hand or something such as a cloth. □ [V n prep] He rubbed oil into my back.
5 VERB If you rub two things together or if they rub together , they move backwards and forwards, pressing against each other. □ [V n together ] He rubbed his hands together a few times. □ [V together ] …the 650-mile rift that separates the Pacific and North American geological plates as they rub together.
6 VERB If something you are wearing or holding rubs , it makes you sore because it keeps moving backwards and forwards against your skin. □ [V ] Smear cream on to your baby's skin at the edges of the plaster to prevent it from rubbing. [Also V n]
7 N‑SING Rub is used in expressions such as there's the rub and the rub is when you are mentioning a difficulty that makes something hard or impossible to achieve. [FORMAL ] □ 'What do you want to write about?'. And there was the rub, because I didn't yet know.
8 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A massage can be referred to as a rub . □ She sometimes asks if I want a back rub.
9 → see also rubbing
10 PHRASE If you rub shoulders with famous people, you meet them and talk to them. You can also say that you rub elbows with someone, especially in American English. □ He regularly rubbed shoulders with the stars.