rub salt in the wound
English
Alternative forms
- rub salt in someone's wounds, rub salt into the wounds
Etymology
Derived from the stinging sensation of salt deliberately being rubbed into an open, bleeding wound.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
rub salt in the wound (third-person singular simple present rubs salt in the wound, present participle rubbing salt in the wound, simple past and past participle rubbed salt in the wound)
- (idiomatic) To make an injury, physical or emotional, feel worse.
- 2023 January 11, Richard Foster, “British Rail's weirdest railways...: Vale of Rheidol”, in RAIL, number 974, page 47:
- To rub further salt into the wound, the narrow-gauge locomotives and rolling stock received the new corporate blue livery and double arrows logo.
- Synonyms: add insult to injury, kick someone when they are down, twist the knife, rub it in; see also Thesaurus:make matters worse
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Usage notes
- For rub, one can substitute verbs such as add, pour, put, possibly requiring a change in the preposition in.
- See salt in the wound for variations in that portion of the expression.
Translations
to make an injury feel worse
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