Grub Street

US: (grub′strēt′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

Grub′ Street′, 

1. Place Names a street in London, England: formerly inhabited by many impoverished minor writers and literary hacks;
   now called Milton Street.
2. Literature petty and needy authors, or literary hacks, collectively.

grub•street  (grub′strēt′), adj. 

1. Literature produced by a hack;
   poor in quality:
   a grubstreet book.

n. 

2. Literature See Grub Street (def. 2).

• 1640–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Grub Street noun

1. a former street in London frequented by literary hacks and needy authors
2. the world or class of literary hacks, etc

adjective
also: Grubstreet / ˈɡrʌbˌstriːt/

1. (sometimes not capital) relating to or characteristic of hack literature