as in laborers
a person who does very hard or dull work
you may have to spend some time working as a grub before challenging work comes your way
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in labors
to devote serious and sustained effort
grubbing away at the yard work before the first snow of the season
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 grubs
Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 6 Oct. 2025
Noun
These grubs chew on turfgrass roots, especially of cool season and transition zone grasses, says Potter.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 6 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grubs
Noun
-
Eva and Franco Mattes’s installation BEFNOED, 2014–, and Martin Le Chevallier’s video Clickworkers, 2017, for example, both foreground digital laborers’ perspectives, the global scale of crowdworking systems, and the repetitive, sometimes traumatizing, nature of the work.—
Farren Fei Yuan,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2026
-
Today’s retail market is flooded with clothing manufactured overseas with synthetic materials, sometimes made by laborers in poor working conditions.—
Skye Goode,
Outdoor Life,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Overall, immigrants make up more than a quarter of workers who provide direct care in long-term care settings, according to KFF, a health policy research group.—
Tami Luhby,
CNN Money,
1 Feb. 2026
-
For many workers, achieving balance has become increasingly important.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In the movie, Redford plays Roy Hobbs, who struggles his entire life to get a shot at playing professional baseball — a transformation of Arthurian legend into mythic Americana.—
Mark Olsen,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Raymond James analysts upgraded the stock to an outperform rating, citing Sandisk's pricing momentum as new supply struggles to come online.—
Samantha Subin,
CNBC,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Gensert stressed that while RideSD is a voice for young transit riders, the group strives to represent everyone who uses transit.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Jan. 2026
-
Using the power of humour, music and entertainment, Em’s work strives to affect audiences who may not usually engage with ocean conservation.—
Mandeep Rai,
Forbes.com,
16 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Throughout the novel, Nikki works tirelessly to prove herself amongst industry male figureheads who don’t value her voice, personhood, and brilliance, while managing pressure from a boss who isn't her advocate and navigating challenging colleagues steeped in misogyny and who are power-hungry.—
Dominique Fluker,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
But that’s not how state terror works.—
M. Gessen,
Mercury News,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Grubs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grubs. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
