grub

[gruhb] /grʌb/
noun
1.
the thick-bodied, sluggish larva of several insects, as of a scarab beetle.
2.
a dull, plodding person; drudge.
3.
an unkempt person.
4.
Slang. food; victuals.
5.
any remaining roots or stumps after cutting vegetation to clear land for farming.
verb (used with object), grubbed, grubbing.
6.
to dig; clear of roots, stumps, etc.
7.
to dig up by the roots; uproot (often followed by up or out).
8.
Slang. to supply with food; feed.
9.
Slang. to scrounge:
to grub a cigarette.
verb (used without object), grubbed, grubbing.
10.
to dig; search by or as if by digging:
We grubbed through piles of old junk to find the deed.
11.
to lead a laborious or groveling life; drudge:
It's wonderful to have money after having to grub for so many years.
12.
to engage in laborious study.
13.
Slang. to eat; take food.
Origin
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 forms
grubber, noun
Examples from the web for grub
  • The larva is a legless grub that resembles a tiny white sausage.
  • While roving the countryside, meet locals by eating pub grub.
  • He has created a consumer feedback program that promises customers free grub if they phone in and respond to short surveys.
  • He'd left the kitchen door open and the window shut, and hoped the smell would wake her-she loved her grub.
  • Her grub hatches and starts eating the ladybird alive.
  • Those in the grub's thorax are distinct from those in its abdomen, with much daintier denticles.
  • Best local grub around: boudin, pralines, homemade root beer.
  • Once inside the grub, the nematodes release a bacterium that actually kills the grub.
  • When the grub is removed from the fish, they can stretch to a length of one-third inch.
  • Correct identification of the grub species and an understanding of the life cycle are critical for optimum control.
British Dictionary definitions for grub

grub

/ɡrʌb/
verb grubs, grubbing, grubbed
1.
when tr, often foll by up or out. to search for and pull up (roots, stumps, etc) by digging in the ground
2.
to dig up the surface of (ground, soil, etc), esp to clear away roots, stumps, etc
3.
(intransitive; often foll by in or among) to search carefully
4.
(intransitive) to work unceasingly, esp at a dull task or research
5.
(slang) to provide (a person) with food or (of a person) to take food
6.
(transitive) (slang, mainly US) to scrounge: to grub a cigarette
noun
7.
the short legless larva of certain insects, esp beetles
8.
(slang) food; victuals
9.
a person who works hard, esp in a dull plodding way
10.
(Brit, informal) a dirty child
Word Origin
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 grave³, groove
Word Origin and History for grub
v.

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.)).

n.

"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."

Slang definitions & phrases for grub

grub

noun

Food: goods one can exchange at the kitchen door for grub/ nonchalantly gobble up mounds of this grub (1659+)

verb

: Come over and grub with us (Black)