GRUBS Synonyms: 108 Similar and Opposite Words

grubs 1 of 2

noun

plural of grub

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

grubs

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of grub

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

Noun

First, look for grubs by digging 2 to 4 inches deep in a 1-foot-by-1-foot square of your yard. — Michelle Mastro, Martha Stewart, 5 Sep. 2026 Reseeding is particularly important in high-traffic areas or patches of the lawn where grubs, heat, or disease have left the turf thin. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 29 Aug. 2026 Their larvae, called grubs, often feast on the organic matter in compost. — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026 They are considered beneficial insects that pollinate flowers and prey on grubs and beetles. — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026 Their diet consists primarily of insects and other soil-dwelling creatures, including earthworms and grubs. — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 5 Aug. 2026 Japanese beetles suddenly emerge mid-summer as the grubs become adults. — Alora Bopray, USA Today, 6 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for grubs

Noun

Her philanthropic activities extended far beyond her own community to include Indigenous inmates, Chinese immigrants, and white laborers, along with countless other Angelenos.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
In the previous decades, Japan had brought in many Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese laborers, often under duress, to work in factories and mines, usually in atrocious conditions.

— Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of laborers

Verb

Thoroughly unimpressed by her suburban idyll, and evidently unmoved by her responsibilities as wife and mother, Denise labors in her basement on a novel whose protagonist wishes to forsake her family for a life in New York.

— Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2026
Every man and woman who labors in the construction industry deserves that.

— Tim Dunn, Boston Herald, 5 Mar. 2026

Definition of labors

Noun

Conflict-of-interest rules may bar some workers and their families from holding certain stocks; the Treasury has moved to ban ESG funds from accounts, but there’s no way for people to keep certain stocks out of their kids’ accounts.

— Diane Brady, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
His father, Amin Mia, 26, said no health workers came to their remote village in Sylhet to offer vaccinations in time.

— Reuters, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of workers

Verb

As energy supply struggles to keep pace with demand, those delays have drawn political attention and, finally, action, including significant legislation passed at the state level and a new bipartisan permitting reform bill proposed in the Senate.

— Dr. Sarah Kapnick, semafor.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Toxic haze has covered parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the smoke drifting across the region.

— Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of struggles

Verb

In so doing, the tradition could achieve for ASL what the word of the year strives to achieve for English.

— New York Times, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2026
Said soup is being attended to by at least four cooks, as Hal (with helpful coaching by an off-camera Kate) strives to explain himself to Grace back at the embassy, and then the two of them work to get Eidra on-side.

— Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of strives

Verb

In Bellorado-Samuels’s own bedroom, the television is stashed under the bed and works by Barkley Hendricks, Sadie Barnett, and Charisse Pearlina Weston take pride of place.

— Sean Santiago, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2026
Microsoft’s Advanced Shader Delivery works by offloading shader compilation for different hardware combinations to the cloud.

— Tom Warren, The Verge, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of works

Browse Nearby Words

grubby

grubs

grubs (about)

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Grubs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grubs. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of grubs

noun

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

puissant

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes