rubber band

noun

1. a narrow, circular or oblong band of rubber, used for holding things together, as papers or a box and its lid.

rubber band

noun

1. a continuous loop of thin rubber, used to hold papers, etc, together Also calledelastic band

Word History and Origins

Origin of rubber band¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

The word “hole” has many meanings in everyday speech — bubbles, rubber bands and bowls all have different kinds of holes.

From Quanta Magazine

I also brought two extra tubes, a pump, a multi-tool to tighten bolts, a patch kit, electrical tape and rubber bands.

From Washington Post

Transfer them to a large, cylindrical container and cover the opening with cheesecloth secured with a rubber band or string.

From Popular-Science

Thicker bands are better for leg and glute exercises, while stretchier rubber bands are an excellent way to target the arms, chest, and back.

From Popular-Science

Meanwhile, wrap the lid of the pot in a clean dish towel, preferably one that’s waffle-knit or terry cloth, securing it to the handle with a knot or rubber band so the edge of it won’t be in danger of catching flame.

From Washington Post

"One dollar," he said and threw a plainer stone with a rubber band looped around it for our payment.

From The Daily Beast

At that point, like a taut and twisted rubber band, I sprung into action and completed the book in about two months.

From The Daily Beast

“I view my career like a rubber-band ball in that every role is a new experience building toward something bigger,” she said.

From The Daily Beast

The first lady packs a rubber band and a jump rope in her suitcase on the road.

From The Daily Beast

The triangle is “like a rubber band wound up in a toy propeller,” Turner says.

From The Daily Beast

Around the outside of the case was a piece of paper, held in place by a rubber band.

From Project Gutenberg

Kip removed the rubber band, unrolled the paper, studied it in match light.

From Project Gutenberg

He pulled off an india-rubber band from the latest packet, and was soon deep in them, at first half ashamed, half contemptuous.

From Project Gutenberg

A very deceiving illusion can be contrived with a bit of wire, a rubber band and a toothpick.

From Project Gutenberg

The hairpin or wire is bent as shown in the illustration, and the rubber band then placed on the inverted U-shaped part.

From Project Gutenberg

About This Word

What else does rubber band mean?

The handy, dandy rubber band, useful for flinging at people and holding together important things, like stacks of cash money, as rubber bands refer to in hip-hop slang.

Rubber bands also come up in fashion contexts, from bracelets and hairstyles, and a common complaint for those who have to use special ones for orthodontic braces.

Where does rubber band come from?

A quick history lesson: The rubber band was invented in the 1840s by the company Messers Perry and Co, originally made of vulcanized rubber.

Rubber bands help us hold all sorts of things together. But, in hip-hop slang, rubber bands is used in slang expression for lots of money (i.e., large stacks of bills held together by a rubber band). A number of songs talk about rubber bands, including T.I.’s 2003 “Rubber Band Man,” Wiz Khalifa’s 2007 “Poppin’ Rubber Bands,” and Brooke Candy’s 2015 “Rubber Band Stacks.” All of these songs feature rubber bands as boasts about their wealth and success more generally.

In 2018, Cardi B helped popularize the expression poppin’ rubber bands when she rapped it on Bruno Mars’s song “Finesse”: “I went from dollar bills, now we poppin’ rubber bands.” The image is that she’s earned so much money from her small-bills that they make rubber bands pop, unable to hold the stack together.

Rubber bands, in the form of bendy bracelets, were also part of a moral panic in the 2000s. Some parents thought teenagers were wearing sex bands, or colorful bracelets that resembled rubber bands, to signify what sexual acts they were willing to do with others. But this was an urban legend, the colorful wrist-wear was just a fashion statement.

How is rubber band used in real life?

The term and object, rubber band, sees wide uses from office spaces to classrooms to wearing braces and styling hair.

I'm so proud of myself for wearing these orthodontic rubber brands regularly. hopefully these braces will be able to come off earlier. ☺️

— keyyairah 🎀 (@livelovenic_) July 9, 2015

As for the hip-hop slang, rubber bands often appears in the expression poppin’ rubber bands, or earning/spending a lot of money or feeling classy, sexy, and successful more generally.

went from dollar bills now we poppin rubber bands 🤣❤️ pic.twitter.com/kAe3dzi4v0

— jenna:) (@jennanublaa) February 11, 2018

More examples of rubber band:

“The cool thing about rubber bands it that they are mostly like an ideal spring—but not exactly. Both springs and rubber bands have a special property: It takes more force to stretch them the farther you pull.”
—Rhett Allain, Wired, March 2018

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.