grub

[ gruhb ]

/ grʌb /

noun

the thick-bodied, sluggish larva of several insects, as of a scarab beetle.

a dull, plodding person; drudge.

an unkempt person.

Slang. food; victuals.

any remaining roots or stumps after cutting vegetation to clear land for farming.

verb (used with object), grubbed, grub·bing.

to dig; clear of roots, stumps, etc.

to dig up by the roots; uproot (often followed by up or out).

Slang. to supply with food; feed.

Slang. to scrounge: to grub a cigarette.

verb (used without object), grubbed, grub·bing.

to dig; search by or as if by digging: We grubbed through piles of old junk to find the deed.

to lead a laborious or groveling life; drudge: It's wonderful to have money after having to grub for so many years.

to engage in laborious study.

Slang. to eat; take food.

Nearby words

Origin of grub

1250–1300; Middle English grubbe (noun), grubben (v.); akin to Old High German grubilōn to dig, German grübeln to rack (the brain), Old Norse gryfia hole, pit; see grave¹, groove

Related formsgrub·ber, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for grubs

The ichneumon pierces the body of a caterpillar and lays her eggs where the grubs will find abundant animal food.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 2|Various
But at the same time the grubs are quite helpless, and cannot possibly go to look for food for themselves.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood
The heat and steam will go through the carpet, thus destroying the grubs.
Fowler's Household Helps|A. L. Fowler
Never was there such a season, flowers springing, birds singing, grubs eating the wheat—as if it was the end of May.
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume 6|John Gibson Lockhart

He found crickets, worms, and grubs under the dead pine logs, and with this fine variety of bait he approached the brook.
The U.P. Trail|Zane Grey

British Dictionary definitions for grubs

grub

/ (ɡrʌb) /

verb grubs, grubbing or grubbed

(when tr, often foll by up or out) to search for and pull up (roots, stumps, etc) by digging in the ground

to dig up the surface of (ground, soil, etc), esp to clear away roots, stumps, etc

(intr; often foll by in or among) to search carefully

(intr) to work unceasingly, esp at a dull task or research

slang to provide (a person) with food or (of a person) to take food

(tr) slang, mainly US to scroungeto grub a cigarette

noun

the short legless larva of certain insects, esp beetles

slang food; victuals

a person who works hard, esp in a dull plodding way

British informal a dirty child

Word Origin for grub

C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old High German grubilōn to dig, German grübeln to rack one's brain, Middle Dutch grobben to scrape together; see grave ³, groove

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for grubs

grub

c.1300, from hypothetical Old English *grubbian, from West Germanic *grubbjan (cf. Middle Dutch grobben, Old High German grubilon "to dig, search," German grübeln "to meditate, ponder"), from Proto-Germanic *grub- "to dig," base of Old English grafan (see grave (v.)).

grub

"larva," early 15c., perhaps from grub (v.) on the notion of "digging insect," or from the possibly unrelated Middle English grub "dwarfish fellow" (c.1400). Meaning "dull drudge" is 1650s. The slang sense of "food" is first recorded 1650s, said to be from birds eating grubs, but also often linked with bub "drink."

grub

noun

verb (used with object), grubbed, grub·bing.

verb (used without object), grubbed, grub·bing.

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Nearby words

Origin of grub

Examples from the Web for grubs

grub

verb grubs, grubbing or grubbed

noun

Word Origin for grub

grub

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