dead rubber

noun

In a series of sporting fixtures, a match of which the result is irrelevant, the winner of the series, or the outcome of the league, having already been determined by earlier results.

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Meanings

noundead rubber (plural dead rubbers)

plural dead rubbers

  1. hobbiesIn a series of sporting fixtures, a match of which the result is irrelevant, the winner of the series, or the outcome of the league, having already been determined by earlier results.

    It also means Tuchel can use qualifiers that are now effectively dead rubbers against Serbia at Wembley and away to Albania to continuing shaping his squad in readiness for the World Cup.

    2025 October 14, Phil McNulty, “Latvia 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport
Cite this entry
APA

dead rubber. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead%20rubber

MLA

“dead rubber.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead%20rubber. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dead rubber,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dead%20rubber.

Source: dead rubber on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.