Definition of grubstake
1 : supplies or funds furnished a mining prospector on promise of a share in his discoveries
2 : material assistance (such as a loan) provided for launching an enterprise or for a person in difficult circumstances
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First Known Use of grubstake
1863
grubstake
Definition of grubstake
transitive verb
: to provide with a grubstake
grubstaker
nounDid You Know?
Grubstake is a linguistic nugget that was dug up during the famous California Gold Rush, which began in 1848. Sometime between the first stampede and the early 1860s, when the gold-seekers headed off to Montana, prospectors combined grub ("food") and stake, meaning "an interest or share in an undertaking." At first grubstake was a noun, referring to any kind of loan or provisions that could be finagled to make an undertaking possible (with the agreement that the "grubstaker" would get a cut of any profits). By 1879, grubstake was also showing up as a verb meaning "to give someone a grubstake," and, since at least 1937, it has been applied to other situations in which a generous benefactor comes through with the funds.
First Known Use of grubstake
1879
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