grub

Definitions

1. 1.To drudge; to do menial work. Richardson.
2. 2.To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; -- followed by up; as, to grub up trees, rushes, or sedge. They do not attempt to grub up the root of sin. Hare.
3. 3.To supply with food. [Slang] Dickens.
4. 4.(Zoöl.) The larva of an insect, especially of a beetle; -- called also grubworm. See Illust. of Goldsmith beetle, under Goldsmith. Yet your butterfly was a grub. Shak.
5. 5.A short, thick man; a dwarf. [Obs.] Carew.
6. 6.Victuals; food. [Slang] Halliwell. Grub ax or axe, a kind of mattock used in grubbing up roots, etc. -- Grub breaker. Same as Grub hook (below). -- Grub hoe, a heavy hoe for grubbing. -- Grub hook, a plowlike implement for uprooting stumps, breaking roots, etc. -- Grub saw, a handsaw used for sawing marble. -- Grub Street, a street in London (now called Milton Street), described by Dr. Johnson as "much inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and temporary poems, whence any mean production is called grubstreet." As an adjective, suitable to, or resembling the production of, Grub Street. I 'd sooner ballads write, and grubstreet lays. Gap.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Related questions

• What does "grub" mean?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is grub.

• What is to drudge; to do menial work. Richardson called?
• What is to dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; -- followed by up; as, to grub up trees, rushes, or sedge. They do not attempt to grub up the root of sin. Hare called?
• What is the larva of an insect, especially of a beetle; -- called also grubworm. See Illust. of Goldsmith beetle, under Goldsmith. Yet your butterfly was a grub. Shak called?
• What is a short, thick man; a dwarf. [Obs.] Carew called?