Having the texture or flexibility of rubber; stretchy and bouncy, or tough and hard to chew.
From 'rubber' (from the tree sap that bounces back) plus the '-y' suffix. The word emerged in the 1800s as rubber products became common.
Squid and calamari are famously rubbery when overcooked because their collagen proteins tighten up—chefs race against this chemical reaction happening right in your mouth.
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