/krayt/ , n. , v. , crated, crating .
n.
1. a slatted wooden box or framework for packing, shopping, or storing fruit, furniture, glassware, crockery, etc.
2. any completely enclosed boxlike packing or shipping case.
3. Informal. something rickety and dilapidated, esp. an automobile: They're still driving around in the old crate they bought 20 years ago.
4. a quantity, esp. of fruit, that is often packed in a crate approximately 2 × 1 × 1 ft. (0.6 × 0.3 × 0.3 m): a crate of oranges.
v.t.
5. to pack in a crate.
[ 1350-1400; 1915-20 for def. 3; ME, obscurely akin to L cratis wickerwork, hurdle ]