A rubber band is the stretchy loop that snaps around things to hold them. Broccoli, post, and a rolled-up newspaper.
British English also says elastic band, and the two are interchangeable. They perish over time, going brittle and snapping, which is why the one in the back of the drawer never works. Postal workers drop enormous numbers of them in the street, which has become a small national grievance. Firing one across a classroom is an offence every generation has committed.
1nounrubber bandA loop of stretchy rubber used to hold things together.
“Put a rubber band round the whole bundle.”
Also accepted in games: elastic band
Practised in Around the House, A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 5 of A Man Called Ove.
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