What is "crib"

Crib \Crib\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cribbed (kr[i^]bd); p. pr. & vb. n. Cribbing.]

1. To shut up or confine in a narrow habitation; to cage; to cramp.

   If only the vital energy be not cribbed or cramped.
   --I. Taylor.

   Now I am cabin'd, cribbed, confined.
   --Shak.

2. To pilfer or purloin; hence, to steal from an author; to appropriate; to plagiarize; as, to crib a line from Milton. [Colloq.]

   Child, being fond of toys, cribbed the necklace.
   --Dickens.

Crib \Crib\, v. i.

1. To crowd together, or to be confined, as in a crib or in narrow accommodations. [R.]

   Who sought to make . . . bishops to crib in a Presbyterian trundle bed.
   --Gauden.

2. To make notes for dishonest use in recitation or examination. [College Cant]

3. To seize the manger or other solid object with the teeth and draw in wind; -- said of a horse.

Crib \Crib\ (kr[i^]b), n. [AS. crybb; akin to OS. kribbja, D. krib, kribbe, Dan. krybbe, G. krippe, and perh. to MHG. krebe basket, G, korb, and E. rip a sort of wicker basket.]

1. A manger or rack; a feeding place for animals.

   The steer lion at one crib shall meet.
   --Pope.

2. A stall for oxen or other cattle.

   Where no oxen are, the crib is clean.
   --Prov. xiv. 4.

3. A small inclosed bedstead or cot for a child.

4. A box or bin, or similar wooden structure, for storing grain, salt, etc.; as, a crib for corn or oats.

5. A hovel; a hut; a cottage.

   Why rather, Sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs, . . . Than in the perfumed chambers of the great?
   --Shak.

6. (Mining) A structure or frame of timber for a foundation, or for supporting a roof, or for lining a shaft.

7. A structure of logs to be anchored with stones; -- used for docks, pier, dams, etc.

8. A small raft of timber. [Canada]

9. A small theft; anything purloined; a plagiarism; hence, a translation or key, etc., to aid a student in preparing or reciting his lessons. [Colloq.]

   The Latin version technically called a crib.
   --Ld. Lytton.

   Occasional perusal of the Pagan writers, assisted by a crib.
   --Wilkie Collins.

10. A miner's luncheon. [Cant]
    --Raymond.

11. (Card Playing) The discarded cards which the dealer can use in scoring points in cribbage.

Old English cribbe "manger, fodder bin in cowsheds and fields," from a West Germanic root (cognates: Old Saxon kribbia "manger;" Old Frisian and Middle Dutch kribbe; Old High German krippa, German Krippe "crib, manger") probably related to German krebe "basket." Meaning "child's bed with barred sides" is 1640s; probably from frequent use in reference to the manger where infant Jesus was laid. Thieves' slang for "dwelling house" dates to at least 1812, but late 20c. use probably is independent. The Old High German version passed to French and became creche.

"steal," 17c. from crib (n.) in a secondary sense "a basket;" this probably also is the source of student slang meaning "plagiarize" (1778). Related: Cribbed; cribbing.\n

n. 1 (context US English) A baby’s bed (British and Australasian cot) with high, often slatted, often moveable sides, suitable for a child who has outgrown a cradle or bassinet. 2 (context British English) A bed for a child older than a baby. 3 (context nautical English) A small sleeping berth in a packet ship or other small vessel 4 A wicker basket; compare Moses basket. 5 A manger, a feeding trough for animals elevated off the earth or floor, especially one for fodder such as hay. 6 The baby Jesus and the manger in a creche or Nativity scene, consisting of statues of Mary, Joseph and various other characters such as the magi. 7 A bin for drying or storing grain, as with a corn crib. 8 A small room or covered structure, especially one of rough construction, used for storage or penning animals. 9 A confined space, as with a cage or office-cubicle 10 (context obsolete English) A job, a position; (British), an appointment. 11 A hovel, a roughly constructed building best suited to the shelter of animals but used for human habitation. 12 (context slang English) One’s residence, or where one normally hangs out. 13 A boxy structure traditionally built of heavy wooden timbers, to support an existing structure from below, as with a mineshaft or a building being raised off its foundation in preparation for being moved; see cribbing. 14 (context usually in the plural English) A collection of quotes or references for use in speaking, for assembling a written document, or as an aid to a project of some sort; a crib sheet. 15 (context obsolete English) A minor theft, extortion or embezzlement, with or without criminal intent. 16 (context cribbage English) Short for the card game cribbage. 17 (context cribbage English) The cards discarded by players and used by the dealer. 18 (context cryptography English) A known piece of information corresponding to a section of encrypted text, that is then used to work out the remaining sections. 19 (context New Zealand southern English) A small holiday home, often near a beach and of simple construction. 20 (context Australia New Zealand English) A packed lunch taken to work. 21 (context Canada English) A small raft made of timber. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To place or confine in a crib. 2 To shut up or confine in a narrow habitation; to cage; to cramp. 3 (context transitive English) To collect one or more passages and/or references for use in a speech, written document or as an aid for some task; to create a crib sheet. 4 (context intransitive English) To install timber supports, as with cribbing. 5 (context transitive obsolete English) To steal or embezzle, to cheat out of. 6 (context Indian English English) To complain, to grumble

1. n. baby bed with high sides [syn: cot]

2. a literal translation used in studying a foreign language (often used illicitly) [syn: pony, trot]

3. a card game in which each player is dealt 6 cards and discards one or two to make up the crib [syn: cribbage]

4. v. use a crib, as in an exam

5. take unauthorized (intellectual material)

6. line with beams or planks; "crib a construction hole"

7. [also: cribbing, cribbed]

A crib is an infant bed in American English (British English: cot).

Crib may also refer to:

• Bach (New Zealand), a modest beach house in New Zealand
• Box crib, a wooden frame used to stabilise a heavy object during a rescue, jacking, construction, or moving operation
• Cheat sheet or Crib sheet, a concise set of notes for quick reference
• Crib (cryptanalysis), a sample of known plaintext in codebreaking
• Crib barn, a popular type of barn found throughout the U.S. south and southeast regions
• Crib pier, a type of pier built with supporting columns constructed like log cabins
• Corn crib, a granary for drying and storing corn
• Cribbage, a card game
• Cribbing (horse), a bad habit of some horses
• CrossCribb, a card game
• Manger, a trough or box to hold food for animals
• Nativity scene, a depiction of the birth of Jesus as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke
• Timber crib dam, a dam built with heavy timbers in the manner of a log house
• Water crib, an offshore structure that supplies water to an onshore pumping station, notably used in Chicago