1 to work hard, dig 20-.
2 to tell stories or fortunes for money: Grib her femmel an fek the lowie. [Read her palm and get the money.] 20-.
3 to dance for money (this was usually specifically male children who were often dressed in Highland dress) 20-.
4 to hang; to shoot: grib him! 20.
5 to write 20.
6 to say, tell, speak: They grib at the darkment but they didnae mang that the vavver darkment. [Yes, they say that tonight, but they didn’t say that the other night.] 20-. Compare yaik etymology: possibly a development from Scots grub ‘uproot, clear land of weeds’; but it seems also to be a generic term for many types of activity; Jess Smith supplied the following definition: ‘grib meant to work hard. Storytelling and dancing equated to work because it generated a few pennies.’; sense 1 also attested in Shelta; sense 1 attested by Galloway and Perthshire and Argyleshire Tinkler-Gypsies; senses 4 and 5 attested by Galloway Tinkler-Gypsies; also collected by EMcC/PS; sense 6 attested by BS in TDITA; sense 1 attested by JS and collected by RD note:
Canadian Paul Pope (2013) defines this as ‘to take, hold, grab’ and ‘to work or play’.