51Թ

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grub

[gruhb]

noun

  1. the thick-bodied, sluggish larva of several insects, as of a scarab beetle.

  2. a dull, plodding person; drudge.

  3. an unkempt person.

  4. Slang.food; victuals.

  5. any remaining roots or stumps after cutting vegetation to clear land for farming.



verb (used with object)

grubbed, grubbing 
  1. to dig; clear of roots, stumps, etc.

  2. to dig up by the roots; uproot (often followed by up orout ).

  3. Slang.to supply with food; feed.

  4. Slang.to scrounge.

    to grub a cigarette.

verb (used without object)

grubbed, grubbing 
  1. to dig; search by or as if by digging.

    We grubbed through piles of old junk to find the deed.

  2. to lead a laborious or groveling life; drudge.

    It's wonderful to have money after having to grub for so many years.

  3. to engage in laborious study.

  4. Slang.to eat; take food.

grub

/ ɡʌ /

verb

  1. to search for and pull up (roots, stumps, etc) by digging in the ground

  2. to dig up the surface of (ground, soil, etc), esp to clear away roots, stumps, etc

  3. (intr; often foll by in or among) to search carefully

  4. (intr) to work unceasingly, esp at a dull task or research

  5. slangto provide (a person) with food or (of a person) to take food

  6. slang(tr) to scrounge

    to grub a cigarette

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the short legless larva of certain insects, esp beetles

  2. slangfood; victuals

  3. a person who works hard, esp in a dull plodding way

  4. informala dirty child

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • grubber noun
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of grub1

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English grubbe (noun), grubben (verb); akin to Old High German ܲō “to dig,” German ü “to rack (the brain),” Old Norse gryfia “hole, pit”; grave 1, groove
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of grub1

C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old High German ܲō to dig, German ü to rack one's brain, Middle Dutch grobben to scrape together; see grave ³, groove
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

She uses it to tap fatefully on trees and listen for the tiny movements of tasty grubs within, which she then extracts using those same Nosferatu phalanges.

From

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.

From

Prized ancient vineyards across France are being grubbed up.

From

We have to ask ourselves as a society: Do we want college to be a place of intellectual growth or a performative exercise in grade grubbing?

From

Mostly, their education involves learning that they are “grubs,” only suitable for hard labor and sexual predation, with the faint potential of becoming “explorers,” then “pioneers” and finally “aces.”

From

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GRUgrub beam