Definition of "grubstake" [grubstake]

• Supplies or funds advanced to a mining prospector or a person starting a business in return for a promised share of the profits. (noun)
• To supply with funds in return for a promised share of profits. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Kellogg had termed his grubstake, before he knew it."
• "The loan, known as a grubstake, entitled Bernard to a hefty share of the gold."
• "Not much by Daddy's standards, but you'd figure someone with half a brain could do something constructive with that kind of grubstake, right?"