grubstake

1 of 2

noun

grub·​stake ˈgrəb-ˌstāk 

1

: supplies or funds furnished a mining prospector on promise of a share in his discoveries

2

: material assistance (such as a loan) provided for launching an enterprise or for a person in difficult circumstances

grubstake

2 of 2

verb

grubstaked; grubstaking; grubstakes

transitive verb

: to provide with a grubstake

grubstaker noun

Did you know?

Grubstake is a linguistic nugget that was dug up during the famous California Gold Rush, which began in 1848. Sometime between the first stampede and the early 1860s, when the gold-seekers headed off to Montana, prospectors combined grub ("food") and stake, meaning "an interest or share in an undertaking." At first grubstake was a noun, referring to any kind of loan or provisions that could be finagled to make an undertaking possible (with the agreement that the "grubstaker" would get a cut of any profits). By the 1870s, grubstake was also showing up as a verb meaning "to give someone a grubstake," and, since at least 1900, shortly after the Klondike Gold Rush, it has been applied to other situations in which a generous benefactor comes through with the funds.

Examples of grubstake in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Musk, for instance, got at least part of his grubstake from an emerald mine his family owned during the apartheid era in South Africa. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2022

If someone needed a grubstake, Mother White was there. —David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Mar. 2022

Private capital was a bank loan, a contract between a borrower and lender, or a grubstake raised from family members, friends or business associates. —The Economist, 4 July 2019

Verb

Out of cash, Steen reluctantly abandoned grubstaking to work as a carpenter in Tucson, Arizona, for a year, but the uranium called to him. —Aaron Robinson, Car and Driver, 27 July 2017

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1863, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1877, in the meaning defined above

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

grubstake

noun

grub·​stake

ˈgrəb-ˌstāk

: supplies or funds given to a mining prospector in return for a promise of a share in his finds

grubstake verb

grubstaker noun