Refine this word faster
Grub
Definitions
- 1 An insect, especially a beetle, at an immature stage of its life cycle. countable
- 2 a soft thick wormlike larva of certain beetles and other insects wordnet
- 3 Food. slang, uncountable
"pub grub"
- 4 informal terms for a meal wordnet
- 5 A dirty person. Australia, countable, slang, uncountable
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 A despicable person; a lowlife. Australia, countable, slang, uncountable
- 7 A short, thick man; a dwarf. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"John Romane, a short clownish grub, would bear the whole carcase of an ox, yet never tugged with him."
- 1 To scavenge or in some way scrounge, typically for food.
- 2 search about busily wordnet
- 3 To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; often followed by up. ambitransitive
"to grub up trees, rushes, or sedge"
- 4 ask for and get free; be a parasite wordnet
- 5 To supply with food. dated, slang, transitive
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To eat. dated, slang
"“[…] 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!”"
Etymology
From Middle English grubben, grobben, from Old English *grubbian, from Proto-West Germanic *grubb-, from Proto-Germanic *grubb- (compare Middle Dutch grobben (“to scrape, scramble, grab”), Old High German grubilōn (“to dig, search”), German grübeln (“to meditate, ponder”)), from Proto-Germanic *grub- (“to dig”) (see *grabaną). The noun sense of "larva" is from Middle English grub, grubbe, grobbe, crubbe and may derive from the notion of "digging insect" from the verb above, or from the uncertainly related Middle English grub (“dwarfish fellow”). Compare West Frisian krobbe (“beetle”). The slang sense of "food" is first recorded 1659, and has been linked with birds eating grubs or with bub (“drink”).
From Middle English grubben, grobben, from Old English *grubbian, from Proto-West Germanic *grubb-, from Proto-Germanic *grubb- (compare Middle Dutch grobben (“to scrape, scramble, grab”), Old High German grubilōn (“to dig, search”), German grübeln (“to meditate, ponder”)), from Proto-Germanic *grub- (“to dig”) (see *grabaną). The noun sense of "larva" is from Middle English grub, grubbe, grobbe, crubbe and may derive from the notion of "digging insect" from the verb above, or from the uncertainly related Middle English grub (“dwarfish fellow”). Compare West Frisian krobbe (“beetle”). The slang sense of "food" is first recorded 1659, and has been linked with birds eating grubs or with bub (“drink”).
See also for "grub"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: grub