Grub
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ɡɹʌb/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Grub is a noun meaning (countable) An insect, especially a beetle, at an immature stage of its life cycle.
Meaning
(countable) An insect, especially a beetle, at an immature stage of its life cycle.
More Meanings
- (uncountable, slang) Food.
- (Australia, slang) A dirty person.
- (Australia, slang) A despicable person; a lowlife.
- (transitive) To scavenge or in some way scrounge, typically for food.
- (ambitransitive) To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; often followed by up.
- (obsolete) A short, thick man; a dwarf.
- (slang, dated, transitive) To supply with food.
Example Sentences
to grub up trees, rushes, or sedge
They do not attempt to grub up the root of sin.
John Romane, a short clownish grub, would bear the whole carcase of an ox, yet never tugged with him.
"The rice ration's down to nearly damn-all in the kampongs, but we keep finding dumps of grub in the forest."
Word Forms
- grubs
- grubbing
- grubbed
Synonyms for grub
Depending on context, synonyms include larva, bait, belly-timber, chow, comestibles, cuisine.
Antonyms for grub
Common opposites include starve.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include sponge, ferret, cadge, chuck, feed, chow.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.