grubstakes

Perhaps the best path would be to start with two or three government grubstakes of $10 billion, with the hope that private investors would push the capital base to $50 billion each.

One Cure for Financial Mistrust: Create New Banks

The workers were the fellows toiling for grubstakes.

Chapter V

The prospectors had gold fever, grubstakes, the ability to persevere against long odds of success, and the rare peak experience of striking the mother lode.

Scientific Blogging

Scientists have idea fever, government grants as grubstakes, the ability to persevere against long odds, and the rare experience of having one of their ideas turn out to be truly significant, which might happen once in a scientific lifetime.

Scientific Blogging

"Me?" said Cherokee, "oh, grubstakes will be about the thing.

Heart of the West [Annotated]