grubs 1 of 2

noun

plural of grub
as in laborers
a person who does very hard or dull work you may have to spend some time working as a grub before challenging work comes your way

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grubs

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of grub
as in labors
to devote serious and sustained effort grubbing away at the yard work before the first snow of the season

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of grubs
Noun
First, look for grubs by digging 2 to 4 inches deep in a 1-foot-by-1-foot square of your yard. — Michelle Mastro, Martha Stewart, 5 Sep. 2026 Reseeding is particularly important in high-traffic areas or patches of the lawn where grubs, heat, or disease have left the turf thin. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 29 Aug. 2026 Their larvae, called grubs, often feast on the organic matter in compost. — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026 They are considered beneficial insects that pollinate flowers and prey on grubs and beetles. — Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 2026 Their diet consists primarily of insects and other soil-dwelling creatures, including earthworms and grubs. — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 5 Aug. 2026 Japanese beetles suddenly emerge mid-summer as the grubs become adults. — Alora Bopray, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for grubs
  1. laborers
  2. labors
  3. workers
  4. struggles
  5. strives
  6. works
  7. slaves
Noun
  • Her philanthropic activities extended far beyond her own community to include Indigenous inmates, Chinese immigrants, and white laborers, along with countless other Angelenos.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In the previous decades, Japan had brought in many Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese laborers, often under duress, to work in factories and mines, usually in atrocious conditions.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of laborers
Verb
  • Thoroughly unimpressed by her suburban idyll, and evidently unmoved by her responsibilities as wife and mother, Denise labors in her basement on a novel whose protagonist wishes to forsake her family for a life in New York.
    — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Every man and woman who labors in the construction industry deserves that.
    — Tim Dunn, Boston Herald, 5 Mar. 2026
Definition of labors
Noun
  • But the movement has widened to include workers demanding relief from rising living costs, making the government’s task broader than resolving a dispute over university admissions.
    — Thomas Adamson, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Also according to the emergency service, consecutive Russian strikes on a shopping center in Kharkiv injured four people late on Saturday, including three rescue workers.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of workers
Verb
  • Sometimes, though, a team simply struggles to find its footing.
    — David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • This mostly lifeless car struggles every few seconds to get its engine going.
    — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of struggles
Verb
  • In so doing, the tradition could achieve for ASL what the word of the year strives to achieve for English.
    — New York Times, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Said soup is being attended to by at least four cooks, as Hal (with helpful coaching by an off-camera Kate) strives to explain himself to Grace back at the embassy, and then the two of them work to get Eidra on-side.
    — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of strives
Verb
  • In Bellorado-Samuels’s own bedroom, the television is stashed under the bed and works by Barkley Hendricks, Sadie Barnett, and Charisse Pearlina Weston take pride of place.
    — Sean Santiago, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Microsoft’s Advanced Shader Delivery works by offloading shader compilation for different hardware combinations to the cloud.
    — Tom Warren, The Verge, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of works
Verb
  • Things are equally akilter in his family’s home, with his mother now sitting on the couch watching TV while his father slaves away in the kitchen.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Definition of slaves

Browse Nearby Words

grubby
grubs
grubs (about)
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Cite this Entry

“Grubs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/grubs. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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