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Showing results for grubstake. Search instead for grubstaking.
Synonyms

grubstake

American  
[gruhb-stayk] / ˈgrʌbˌsteɪk /

noun

  1. provisions, gear, etc., furnished to a prospector on condition of participating in the profits of any discoveries.

  2. money or other assistance furnished at a time of need or of starting an enterprise.


verb (used with object)

grubstaked, grubstaking
  1. to furnish with a grubstake.

    I grubstaked him to two mules and supplies enough for five months.

grubstake British  
/ ˈɡrʌbˌsteɪk /

noun

  1. informal supplies provided for a prospector on the condition that the donor has a stake in any finds

"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

verb

  1. informal to furnish with such supplies

  2. to supply (a person) with a stake in a gambling game

"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

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of grubstake

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; grub + stake 2


Vocabulary lists containing grubstake

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

But Hagan also lavishes praise upon Wenner for building a media empire from a tiny grubstake.

From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2017

With a $50 grubstake from her father, Ms. Bündchen set off alone on a 28-hour bus ride to São Paulo and an improbable lifelong journey.

From New York Times ● May 14, 2016

At the firm's start in 1985, Schwarzman and co-founder Peter G. Peterson shared a secretary and oversaw a grubstake of just $400,000.

From BusinessWeek ● May 7, 2009

A former wildcatter who parlayed a $2,500 grubstake into a worldwide company with holdings stretching at times from Canada to the North Sea, Pickens had been gunning for Cities Service since 1979.

From Time Magazine Archive

He told Westerberg he planned on staying until April 15, just long enough to put together a grubstake.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

The Kaiser-Frazer Corp., which has been grubstaked by the RFC to just about all the Government money it can get for its auto business, struck it rich in the private money markets last week.

From Time Magazine Archive

The empire he rules was founded in 1867 when Cleveland's Dan Rhodes grubstaked early explorers of the Mesabi.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1941 Scotty broke down and confessed that the gold mine was a myth; he had been grubstaked "for laughs" by the late multimillionaire.

From Time Magazine Archive

Luckier than all the prospectors were the traders who grubstaked them.

From Time Magazine Archive

He 'lowed he'd grubstaked Casey, which was a plumb lie.

From Rimrock Trail by Joseph Allan Dunn

Potent in State politics, he became popular by his generosity in grubstaking ranchers and prospectors.

From Time Magazine Archive

It's named after Walter Scott, a flamboyant prospector and veteran of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, who conned a millionaire Chicago insurance executive named Albert Johnson into grubstaking a worthless mine.

From Time Magazine Archive

He used to say: 'When you are grubstaking, you take chances.

From Time Magazine Archive

The first stage in the development of a mine is grubstaking the prospector.

From Time Magazine Archive

I want you to tell me who it was grubstaked you that winter you needed grubstaking mighty bad.

From Bred of the Desert A Horse and a Romance by Marcus Horton

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