Meaning & use
grub
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Meanings
nouncountablebiology
The soft, fat, worm-like young form of some insects, especially beetles, before they change into adults.
Grammar: Countable: a grub, white grubs.
Patterns
- a grub in something
Digging in the flowerbed, she found a fat white grub.
Birds pulled grubs out of the damp lawn.
The grub spends a year underground before becoming a beetle.
noununcountableinformal
Food, especially simple everyday meals.
Grammar: No plural: let's get some grub.
Patterns
- get some grub
- grub's up
After the hike we were all desperate for some grub.
Mum shouted that grub was ready.
The camp serves good grub at a fair price.
verbintransitive
To dig or search around in soil or a mess, looking for something.
Grammar: Often followed by around, about or for: grub around for coins.
Patterns
- grub around for something
- grub about in something
He grubbed around in the garden for his lost ring.
Pigs grub in the dirt for roots.
I grubbed through my bag for the keys.
Word forms
| plural | grubs |
|---|---|
| third person singular | grubs |
| past tense | grubbed |
| -ing form | grubbing |
Common combinations
- good grub
- The pub is famous for its good grub.
- pub grub
- We had pub grub by the fire.
- white grub
- White grubs can damage garden lawns.
- grub around
- We grubbed around in the attic for old photos.
- grub up
- Farmers grubbed up the old tree stumps.
Synonyms and how they differ
- larva
- Larva is the scientific word for any insect's young form, while grub is a plainer word for beetle-type larvae.
- maggot
- A maggot is a fly larva and is linked with rot, while a grub is typically a beetle larva in soil.
- food
- Food is the neutral word, while grub is casual and suits a simple meal.
- chow
- Chow is also casual slang for food, but it is more American than grub.
Word family
Commonly confused: grub or grubby?
grub vs grubby
Grubby means dirty; it is related to grub, the digging verb, but does not mean food or larva.
Practice
"Come on, everyone, ___'s up!" shouted the cook, ringing the dinner bell.
Choose one answer.
Grub's up is a casual way to say food is ready. Grubby is an adjective and does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “grub”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.