Definition

1. Noun:

   • A soft, thick, worm-like larva: The immature, often legless, form of certain insects, especially beetles.
   • Informal term for food: Slang for a meal or something to eat.

2. Verb:

   • To search busily and roughly: To dig or search by turning things over, often in a messy or determined way.
   • To obtain something for free; to scrounge: To get something, especially food or money, without paying, often by asking persistently.

Examples

• Noun (larva):

  • The gardener found a white grub in the soil.
  • These grubs will eventually turn into beetles.

• Noun (informal: food):

  • Let's go get some grub; I'm starving.
  • He cooked up some tasty grub on the campfire.

• Verb (search):

  • The dog grubbed in the dirt, looking for its bone.
  • She grubbed through her bag, searching for her keys.

• Verb (scrounge):

  • He's always trying to grub a free meal from his friends.
  • Can I grub a cigarette off you?

Advanced Usage

• "to grub about/around": To search for something in a clumsy, messy, or determined manner by moving things around.

  • Pigs love to grub about for roots and insects.
  • I had to grub around in the attic to find the old photo album.

• "to grub up/out": To dig or pull something out of the ground, especially plants or roots.

  • We need to grub up these weeds before they spread.
  • The old tree stump was finally grubbed out.

Variants and Related Words

• Grubby (adj): Dirty, grimy, or unkempt.
  • His hands were grubby from working in the garden.

Synonyms

• Noun (larva): Larva, caterpillar, maggot.
• Noun (food): Food, eats, chow (slang), nosh (slang).
• Verb (search): Dig, rummage, forage, root.
• Verb (scrounge): Cadge, bum, mooch (slang), sponge.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Grub about/around: To search clumsily or busily.

  • He was grubbing around under the sofa for the remote control.

• Grub up/out: To remove something by digging.

  • The farmers grubbed out the old hedges to make larger fields.

Noun

1. a soft thick wormlike larva of certain beetles and other insects
2. informal terms for a meal

Verb

1. search about busily
2. ask for and get free; be a parasite