grub

Etymology

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" (c. 1400) may derive from the notion of "digging insect" or from the possibly unrelated Middle English grub (“dwarfish fellow”). The slang sense of "food" is first recorded 1659, and has been linked with birds eating grubs or with bub (“drink”)."

noun

1. (countable) An insect at an immature stage of its life cycle.
2. (uncountable, slang) Food.
   pub grub
   "The rice ration's down to nearly damn-all in the kampongs, but we keep finding dumps of grub in the forest." 1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 298
3. (Australia, slang) A dirty person.
4. (Australia, slang) A despicable person; a lowlife.
5. (obsolete) A short, thick man; a dwarf.

verb

1. To scavenge or in some way scrounge, typically for food.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To dig; to dig up by the roots; to root out by digging; often followed by up.
   to grub up trees, rushes, or sedge
   They do not attempt to grub up the root of sin. 1846, Julius Hare, The Mission of the Comforter
3. (slang, dated, transitive) To supply with food.
4. (slang, dated) To eat.