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Added 9 October 2026

grub

/ɡɹʌb/ noun

In Latin: terēdō Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about grub at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An insect, especially a beetle, at an immature stage of its life cycle.
A dirty person.
A despicable person; a lowlife.

verb

To scavenge or in some way scrounge, typically for food.
To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; often followed by up.
to grub up trees, rushes, or sedge
To supply with food.

Origin

From Middle English grubben, grobben, from Old English *grubbian, from Proto-West Germanic *grubb-, from Proto-Germanic *grubb- (compare Middle Dutch grobben (“to scrape, scramble, grab”), Old High German grubilōn (“to dig, search”), German grübeln (“to meditate, ponder”)), from Proto-Germanic *grub- (“to dig”) (see *grabaną). The noun sense of "larva" is from Middle English grub, grubbe, grobbe, crubbe and may derive from the notion of "digging insect" from the verb above, or from the uncertainly related Middle English grub (“dwarfish fellow”). Compare West Frisian krobbe (“beetle”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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