擦(cā) - to wipe, to rub, to scrub in Mandarin

擦 (cā) is to wipe or rub with something: a cloth, a tissue, your sleeve. It usually appears with a result complement saying what the wiping achieved, because Mandarin cares about outcomes: 擦干净 (wipe clean), 擦干 (wipe dry), 擦掉 (wipe off, erase). Bare 擦 on its own can sound unfinished.

Reduplication softens it into a quick casual action: 擦了擦, 擦一擦. The tool goes in a 用 phrase before the verb: 用布擦, 用纸巾擦.

Two things to watch. 擦 is not 洗 (xǐ), to wash: wiping is dry or damp, washing involves water, so you 擦桌子 but 洗手. And 擦 also covers grazing or scraping past something, which gives 擦伤 (a graze) and 擦肩而过 (to brush past each other, used figuratively of near misses in life). Related everyday items: 擦布 and 抹布 for a cloth, 橡皮擦 for a rubber.