to search for and pull up (roots, stumps, etc) by digging in the ground
2.
to dig up the surface of (ground, soil, etc), esp to clear away roots, stumps, etc
3. (intr; often foll by in or among)
to search carefully
4. (intransitive)
to work unceasingly, esp at a dull task or research
5. slang
to provide (a person) with food or (of a person) to take food
6. (transitive) slang, mainly US
to scrounge
to grub a cigarette
noun
7.
the short legless larva of certain insects, esp beetles
8. slang
food; victuals
9.
a person who works hard, esp in a dull plodding way
10. British informal
a dirty child
Word origin
C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old High German grubilōn to dig, German grübeln to rack one's brain, Middle Dutch grobben to scrape together; see grave3, groove
Examples of 'grubbed' in a sentence
grubbed
He preferred a raw visual language grubbed up from deep in our brains.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Hedgerows, which for centuries housed nests of green moss and wool with clutches of speckled eggs, have been grubbed up.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You can get grants to replant hedges that were grubbed up a generation back, grants to restore ponds.