grub

1 of 2

verb

ˈgrəb 

grubbed; grubbing

transitive verb

1

: to clear by digging up roots and stumps

2

: to dig up by or as if by the roots

intransitive verb

1

a

: to dig in the ground especially for something that is difficult to find or extract

b

: to search about

grubbed in the countryside for food

—Lamp

2

: toil, drudge

grubbing along at newspaper jobs

—Walter Kirn

grubber noun

grub

2 of 2

noun

1

: a soft thick wormlike larva of an insect (such as a beetle)

2

a

: one who does menial work : drudge

b

: a slovenly person

3

: food

Synonyms

Verb

• bang away
• beaver (away)
• dig (away)
• drudge
• endeavor
• fag
• hump
• hustle
• labor
• moil
• peg (away)
• plod
• plow
• plug
• slave
• slog
• strain
• strive
• struggle
• sweat
• toil
• travail
• tug
• work

Noun

• bread
• chow
• chuck [chiefly West]
• comestibles
• eatables
• eats
• edibles
• fare
• food
• foodstuffs
• meat
• provender
• provisions
• table
• tucker [chiefly Australian]
• viands
• victuals
• vittles

Examples of grub in a Sentence

Verb

Everyone was grubbing for whatever food they could find.

students grubbing for better grades

Noun

Let's go get some grub.

after the game, we headed to the diner for some hearty grub

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Hard-line opposition figures contend that the threats to Maduro’s regime have so far lacked sufficient menace and credibility to scare Maduro’s supporters out of their money-grubbing sloth. —Ivan Briscoe, Foreign Affairs, 11 May 2020

But there’s something dingy and gross, like mottled drifts of old snow, about the overweening influence of Trump’s courtiers and their grubbing relationship with a president so obviously enamored of money and flattery. —Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2025

Noun

The larvae and grub phases—do those look really different from an adult? —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 4 Apr. 2025

Club grub and new playground Two new outdoor kitchens are set up side-by-side this year. —Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English grubben; akin to Old English grafan to dig — more at grave

Noun

Middle English grubbe, from grubben

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing grub

• cattle grub
• common cattle grub
• white grub

Rhymes for grub

• bub
• club
• cub
• dub
• hub
• nub
• pub
• rub
• scrub
• shrub
• snub
• stub

Kids Definition

grub

1 of 2 verb

ˈgrəb 

grubbed; grubbing

1

: to clear or root out by digging

grub up roots

grub for potatoes

2

: to work hard : drudge

grubber noun

grub

2 of 2 noun

1

: a soft thick wormlike larva of an insect (as a beetle)

2

a

: drudge entry 2

b

: an untidy or dirty person

3

: food sense 1

Medical Definition

grub

noun

ˈgrəb 

: a soft thick wormlike larva of an insect