Crib definition | Dictionary.com

crib

[krib]

noun, verb, cribbed, crib⋅bing.

–noun

1.	a child's bed with enclosed sides.

2.	a stall or pen for cattle.

3.	a rack or manger for fodder, as in a stable or barn.

4.	a bin for storing grain, salt, etc.

Informal.

a.	a translation, list of correct answers, or other illicit aid used by students while reciting, taking exams, or the like; pony.

b.	plagiarism.

c.	a petty theft.

6.	a room, closet, etc., in a factory or the like, in which tools are kept and issued to workers.

7.	a shallow, separate section of a bathing area, reserved for small children.

8.	any confined space.

9.	Slang. a house, shop, etc., frequented by thieves or regarded by thieves as a likely place for burglarizing.

10.	Building Trades, Civil Engineering. any of various cellular frameworks of logs, squared timbers, or steel or concrete objects of similar form assembled in layers at right angles, often filled with earth and stones and used in the construction of foundations, dams, retaining walls, etc.

11.	a barrier projecting part of the way into a river and then upward, acting to reduce the flow of water and as a storage place for logs being floated downstream.

12.	a lining for a well or other shaft.

13.	Slang. one's home; pad.

14.	Cribbage. a set of cards made up by equal contributions from each player's hand, and belonging to the dealer.

15.	a cheap, ill-kept brothel.

16.	a wicker basket.

17.	British, Australian. lunch, esp. a cold lunch carried from home to work and eaten by a laborer on the job; snack.

–verb (used with object)

18.	Informal. to pilfer or steal, esp. to plagiarize (another's writings or ideas).

19.	to confine in or as if in a crib.

20.	to provide with a crib or cribs.

21.	to line with timber or planking.

–verb (used without object)

22.

Informal.

a.	to use a crib in examinations, homework, translating, etc.

b.	to steal; plagiarize.

23.	(of a horse) to practice cribbing.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME cribbe, OE crib(b); c. D krib, G Krippe; cf. crèche

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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crib (krĭb) Pronunciation Key
n.

A bed with high sides for a young child or baby.
1. A small building, usually with slatted sides, for storing corn.
2. A rack or trough for fodder; a manger.
3. A stall for cattle.
4. A petty theft.
5. Plagiarism.
6. See pony.
A small crude cottage or room.
Slang One's home.
A framework to support or strengthen a mine or shaft.
A wicker basket.
1. A petty theft.
2. Plagiarism.
3. See pony.
Games A set of cards made up from discards by each player in cribbage, used by the dealer.

v. cribbed, crib·bing, cribs

v. tr.

To confine in or as if in a crib.
To furnish with a crib.
1. To plagiarize (an idea or answer, for example).
2. To steal.

v. intr.
To plagiarize; cheat.

[Middle English, manger, from Old English cribb.]
crib'ber n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

po·ny (pō'nē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. po·nies

Any of several types or breeds of horses that are small in size when full grown, such as the Shetland pony.
1. Informal A racehorse.
2. Sports A polo horse.
Something small for its kind, especially a small glass for beer or liqueur.
A word-for-word translation of a foreign language text, especially one used secretly by students as an aid in studying or test-taking. Also called crib, trot.
Chiefly British The sum of 25 pounds.

tr. & intr.v. po·nied, po·ny·ing, po·nies
To study with the aid of a pony: pony a lesson; ponied all night before the exam.
Phrasal Verb(s):
pony up Slang To pay (money owed or due).

[Probably from obsolete French poulenet, diminutive of poulain, colt, from Late Latin pullāmen, young of an animal, from Latin pullus; see pau-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

crib

O.E. cribbe "manger, fodder bin in cowsheds and fields," from a W.Gmc. root probably related to Ger. krebe "basket." Meaning "child's bed with barred sides" is 1649; probably from frequent use in reference to the manger where infant Jesus was laid. Verb meaning "steal" is 17c. from alternate meaning "a basket," and this is probably source of student slang "plagiarize" (1778). Thieves' slang for "dwelling house" dates to at least 1812. The O.H.G. version passed to Fr. and became creche.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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crib
noun
1.	baby bed with high sides made of slats
2.	a literal translation used in studying a foreign language (often used illicitly) [syn: pony]
3.	a bin or granary for storing grains
4.	the cards discarded by players at cribbage
5.	a card game (usually for two players) in which each player is dealt six cards and discards one or two [syn: cribbage]
verb
1.	use a crib, as in an exam
2.	take unauthorized (intellectual material)
3.	line with beams or planks; "crib a construction hole"

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Main Entry: crib
Pronunciation: 'krib
Function: noun
1 : a manger for feeding animals
2 a : a stall for a stabled animal b : a small child's bedstead with high enclosing usually slatted sides

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Crib

Crib\ (kr?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 plagiaris?; 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.

Crib

Crib\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cribbed (kr?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.

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Main Entry:	crib
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	See cheat sheet

Main Entry:	crib
Part of Speech:	n
Definition:	See crib sheet