crib

crib [krib]

n.

[ME & OE, ox stall, couch, akin to Ger krippe, Frank * kripja: basic sense “what is woven or plaited, basket” < IE * grebh- < base * ger-, to wind, turn, weave; senses of “steal,” etc. < thieves' slang < orig. sense “to put in a basket”; CRIB n. 4 from Biblical application of CRIB sense 1]

1. a rack, trough, or box for fodder; manger

2. a stall for cattle, oxen, etc.

3. a small house or room

4. a small bed with high sides, for a baby

5. a framework of wooden or metal bars for support or strengthening, as in a mine

6. a framework or enclosure as for storing grain

☆ 7. a structure secured under water, serving as a pier, a water intake, etc.

8. Informal

a) a petty theft

b) a plagiarism

c) notes, a translation of a foreign writing, or other aids used, often dishonestly, in doing schoolwork

9. Slang the house, apartment, etc. where a person lives

10. Cribbage the cards discarded by the players and forming an extra hand for the dealer, counted for points but not played

vt.

cribbed, cribbing

1. toshut up in or as in a crib; confine

2. to furnish with a crib or cribs

3. Informal

a) to steal

b) to plagiarize

vi.

1. to have the habit of crib biting

2. Informal to do schoolwork dishonestly, as by using a crib

cribber

n.