as in laboring
to devote serious and sustained effort
grubbing away at the yard work before the first snow of the season
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of grubbing
Released in 1958, Attack told of a wealthy heiress, fresh from a stint at a mental institution, who is turned into a giantess and then deals with her philandering husband and his no-good, money-grubbing floozy.
—
Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 9 Jan. 2026
Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 9 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grubbing
Verb
-
Put differently, eliminating tax on overtime reduces the number of hours each day that hourly workers are laboring not for themselves or their families but for the government.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The difference early was that Keller was throwing strikes at an astonishing rate and quickly working through his innings, while King was laboring.—
Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Everything is going to plan when, just hours after launch, a series of unexplained events engulf Sutherland in mystery and risks destroying everything Mirren’s been striving for.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Linda is a ball of nervous energy, a blue-collar divorcée, and a woman striving to turn her dysfunctional children into a model family for their New Jersey town.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
That leaves firms which relied on cheap, abundant credit during the low-rate era of 2010s and early 2020s more exposed, with weaker companies struggling to roll over debt or exit investments.—
Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
20 Apr. 2026
-
Despite Magic guard Desmond Bane, clearly under the weather, struggling from beyond the arc but still managing to contribute 17 points.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
King has been working ever since then to bring a Michael Jackson film to theatres, and now only technicalities remained.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
-
During her college years, Sophie spent her summers working and gaining experience in television and journalism.—
Katie Mannion,
PEOPLE,
19 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grubbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grubbing. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
