crib: Meaning and Definition of

crib

Pronunciation: (krib), [key]
— n., v., cribbed, crib•bing.
—n.
  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.
    1. a translation, list of correct answers, or other illicit aid used by students while reciting, taking exams, or the like; pony.
    2. plagiarism.
    3. a petty theft.
  5. a room, closet, etc., in a factory or the like, in which tools are kept and issued to workers.
  6. a shallow, separate section of a bathing area, reserved for small children.
  7. any confined space.
  8. a house, shop, etc., frequented by thieves or regarded by thieves as a likely place for burglarizing.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. a lining for a well or other shaft.
  12. one's home; pad.
  13. a set of cards made up by equal contributions from each player's hand, and belonging to the dealer.
  14. a cheap, ill-kept brothel.
  15. a wicker basket.
  16. lunch, esp. a cold lunch carried from home to work and eaten by a laborer on the job; snack.
—v.t.
  1. to pilfer or steal, esp. to plagiarize (another's writings or ideas).
  2. to confine in or as if in a crib.
  3. to provide with a crib or cribs.
  4. to line with timber or planking.
—v.i.
    1. to use a crib in examinations, homework, translating, etc.
    2. to steal; plagiarize.
  1. (of a horse) to practice cribbing.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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