I. ˈkrib noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, manger, stall, from Old English cribb manger; akin to Old High German krippa manger, Middle High German krebe basket, Old Norse kjarf bundle, sheaf, Greek griphos reed basket, Sanskrit grapsa bunch, tuft, Old English cradol cradle — more at cradle
1.
a. : manger ; especially : a barred or slatted manger for the feeding of hay or other bulky fodder
b. obsolete : an osier or wickerwork basket
c. : bin , crate , box
d. archery : a box topped with netting or perforated board in which to stand arrows
e. slang : safe 1 b
2. : an enclosure especially of framework: as
a. : a stall for an ox or other stabled animal
b. : a small bedstead with high enclosing usually slatted sides for a child ; also : cradle 1a
c. : a heavy supporting or strengthening framework (as for a roof or a house being moved or a shaft)
d. : a frame of logs or beams to be filled with heavy material (as stones or rubble) and sunk as a foundation or retaining wall in the building of docks, piers, dams, and similar structures
e. : a wooden framework with upright rods used as a drying rack
f. archaic : jail
g. : an enclosure in a workshop or factory where tools or supplies are issued to workers
h. : a structure enclosing a water intake and filter offshore in a lake (as one of the Great Lakes)
i. : an enclosure in shallow water (as at the edge of a lake) where small children may play in safety
3.
a. : hut , hovel ; sometimes : a small narrow room
b. slang : a building (as a house or store) considered with a view to unlawful entry — used chiefly in the phrase crack a crib
c. : a house of prostitution ; especially : a room or shack where a prostitute plies her trade as contrasted with a more extensive establishment
d. : a building usually of open or slat construction for the storing of grain (as corn)
e. : caboose 3
4.
a. : the cards discarded for the dealer to use in scoring in cribbage
b. slang : cribbage
5.
a. : a small theft : something stolen
b. : plagiarism
c.
(1) : pony 4
(2) : a key to an understanding of a literary work ; especially : an explication that follows a text line by line or page by page
(3) : a phrase of probable words determining some of a cipher key
d. : a device or object used for cheating in an examination
6. : crèche 3
7. chiefly Britain : lunch — used especially of the meal that a workman carries with him to eat at his place of employment
8. : something forming a barrier: as
a. : weir
b. : a barrier for reducing the flow of water downstream but extending only part way from shore and thence upstream so as to form a sheltered area (as for storing logs)
c. : a retaining wall of logs used to protect road cuts
9. : the space between two adjacent railroad ties
II. verb
( cribbed ; cribbed ; cribbing ; cribs )
transitive verb
1. : to confine to a small area or within narrow limits : cage , cramp , restrain
now am I cabin'd, cribbed, confined — Shakespeare
2.
a. : to provide with a crib ; especially : to line or support with a framework of timber
b. : to put (as grain) into a crib
3. : to surround (floating logs) with a boom and draw on to a raft
4. : pilfer , purloin , steal
put together a jet fighter with parts cribbed from all over Europe — Time
especially : to appropriate (as a passage or idea) and use as one's own : plagiarize
the screen writers were able to crib a few useful lines from Christopher Marlowe — Newsweek
intransitive verb
1.
a. : steal , pilfer , plagiarize
b. : to use a crib in preparing a lesson or taking an examination : cheat
pupils charged that cribbing had been going on at the school for years
2. : crib-bite
3. slang Britain : complain , gripe