好词典

grubs

UK //ɡrʌbz//US //ɡrʌbz//

词源

源自古英语 grubbian(挖掘),与中古低地德语 grubben(挖)同源,后引申出幼虫义项可能因其挖掘土壤的行为。

noun

❶ 指昆虫的幼虫阶段,通常指甲虫或飞蛾的幼虫,外形呈蠕虫状,常见于土壤或腐烂物质中。

“The chickens were pecking at the grubs in the compost.”

(小鸡们正在啄食堆肥里的幼虫。)

“We found white grubs eating the roots of our lawn.”

(我们发现白色幼虫在啃食草坪的根部。)

❶ 俚语中可指食物,尤其是不精致或看起来没食欲的餐食。

“Let's grab some grubs at the diner.”

(我们去小餐馆随便吃点东西吧。)

“This military grub is barely edible.”

(这种军用伙食简直难以下咽。)

同义词:larvae, maggots, caterpillars, chow, food

verb

❶ 指用手或工具在土里挖掘寻找某物,动作类似昆虫幼虫的蠕动方式。

“The dog grubbed in the flowerbed for its buried bone.”

(狗在花坛里刨土找它埋的骨头。)

“We grubbed around in the attic for old photo albums.”

(我们在阁楼里翻箱倒柜找旧相册。)

同义词:dig, root, rummage, delve

常见短语

grub street — 原指伦敦一条以廉价写作为生的文人聚集的街道,现泛指商业化的低质量写作行业。

“He started his career writing for Grub Street magazines.”

(他的职业生涯始于为低端杂志撰稿。)