Grubs

[gruhb] /grʌb/

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.
6.
to dig; clear of roots, stumps, etc.
7.
to dig up by the roots; uproot (often followed by up or out).
8.
Slang. to supply with food; feed.
9.
Slang. to scrounge:
to grub a cigarette.
verb (used without object), grubbed, grubbing.
10.
to dig; search by or as if by digging:
We grubbed through piles of old junk to find the deed.
11.
to lead a laborious or groveling life; drudge:
It’s wonderful to have money after having to grub for so many years.
12.
to engage in laborious study.
13.
Slang. to eat; take food.
/ɡrʌb/
verb grubs, grubbing, grubbed
1.
when tr, often foll by up or out. 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.
(intransitive; often foll by in or among) to search carefully
4.
(intransitive) to work unceasingly, esp at a dull task or research
5.
(slang) to provide (a person) with food or (of a person) to take food
6.
(transitive) (slang, mainly US) to scrounge: to grub a cigarette
noun
7.
the short legless larva of certain insects, esp beetles
8.
(slang) food; victuals
9.
a person who works hard, esp in a dull plodding way
10.
(Brit, informal) a dirty child
noun

See grubbies
v.

c.1300, from hypothetical Old English *grubbian, from West Germanic *grubbjan (cf. Middle Dutch grobben, Old High German grubilon “to dig, search,” German grübeln “to meditate, ponder”), from Proto-Germanic *grub- “to dig,” base of Old English grafan (see grave (v.)).
n.

“larva,” early 15c., perhaps from grub (v.) on the notion of “digging insect,” or from the possibly unrelated Middle English grub “dwarfish fellow” (c.1400). Meaning “dull drudge” is 1650s. The slang sense of “food” is first recorded 1650s, said to be from birds eating grubs, but also often linked with bub “drink.”

noun

Older, worn-out clothes, esp worn for hanging out or doing dirty work: Wear grubbies for the archaeology dig

noun

Food: goods one can exchange at the kitchen door for grub/ nonchalantly gobble up mounds of this grub (1659+)

verb

: Come over and grub with us (Black)