What does "grubstake" mean?

Money, materials, tools, food etc. provided to a prospector in return for a share in future profits.

What is a synonym for "grubstake"?

Common synonyms include: angel, back, backing, bankroll, capitalization, capitalize.

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Money, materials, tools, food etc. provided to a prospector in return for a share in future profits.
"I've been through hell. The other three are all at work and healthy, getting grub-stake to prospect up White River this winter."
2
funds advanced to a prospector or to someone starting a business in return for a share of the profits wordnet
3
An amount of money advanced to someone starting a business in return for a share of the future profits.
4
Money, necessities stockpiled to sustain an effort for a period of time.
"No one however should go to this country intending to mine without taking with him a year's supplies commonly known as a grub stake or its money equivalent about $1,000."

Verb

1
To supply such funds to. transitive
""Nobody grub-stakes me," was the answer. "I stake myself, and when I make a killing it's sure all mine. [...] ""
2
supply with funds in return for a promised share of profits wordnet

"I've been through hell. The other three are all at work and healthy, getting grub-stake to prospect up White River this winter."

From grub + stake.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.