Grub

/ɡɹʌb/ · noun

Meaning

(countable) An insect, especially a beetle, at an immature stage of its life cycle..

Definitions by Sense

1. (countable) An insect, especially a beetle, at an immature stage of its life cycle.
2. (uncountable, slang) Food.
3. (Australia, slang) A dirty person.
4. (Australia, slang) A despicable person; a lowlife.
5. (obsolete) A short, thick man; a dwarf.
6. (transitive) To scavenge or in some way scrounge, typically for food.
7. (ambitransitive) To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; often followed by up.
8. (slang, dated, transitive) To supply with food.

Example Sentences

pub grub

"The rice ration's down to nearly damn-all in the kampongs, but we keep finding dumps of grub in the forest."

John Romane, a short clownish grub, would bear the whole carcase of an ox, yet never tugged with him.

to grub up trees, rushes, or sedge

They do not attempt to grub up the root of sin.

Yet there was no time to be lost if I was ever to get out alive, and so I groped with my hands against the side of the grave until I made out the bottom edge of the slab, and then fell to grubbing beneath it with my fingers.

“[…] John dear, we must give this little fellow his supper, you know.” “Of course we must, my darling.” “He has been grubbing and grubbing at school,” said Bella, looking at her father’s hand and lightly slapping it, “till he’s not fit to be seen. O what a grubby child!”

Synonyms for grub

Antonyms for grub

Related Words

Word Forms

• grubs
• grob
• grubbing
• grubbed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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