crib

American  

[krib] / krɪb /

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.

5. Informal.

   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.

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, especially a cold lunch carried from home to work and eaten by a laborer on the job; snack.

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verb (used with object)

cribbed, cribbing

1. Informal. to pilfer or steal, especially 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.

verb (used without object)

cribbed, cribbing

1. Informal.

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

   2. to steal; plagiarize.

2. (of a horse) to practice cribbing.

crib British  

/ krɪb /

noun

1. a child's bed with slatted wooden sides; cot

2. a cattle stall or pen

3. a fodder rack or manger

4. a bin or granary for storing grain, etc

5. a small crude cottage or room

6. informal a house or residence

7. a weekend cottage: term is South Island usage only

8. any small confined space

9. informal a brothel

10. a wicker basket

11. a representation of the manger in which the infant Jesus was laid at birth

12. informal a theft, esp of another's writing or thoughts

13. Also called (esp US): pony.  informal a translation of a foreign text or a list of answers used by students, often illicitly, as an aid in lessons, examinations, etc

14. short for cribbage

15. cribbage the discard pile

16. Also called: cribwork.  a framework of heavy timbers laid in layers at right angles to one another, used in the construction of foundations, mines, etc

17. a storage area for floating logs contained by booms

18. a packed lunch taken to work

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verb

1. (tr) to put or enclose in or as if in a crib; furnish with a crib

2. informal (tr) to steal (another's writings or thoughts)

3. informal (intr) to copy either from a crib or from someone else during a lesson or examination

4. (tr) to line (a construction hole) with timber beams, logs, or planks

5. informal (intr) to grumble

Other Word Forms

• cribber noun
• uncrib verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of crib

before 1000; Middle English cribbe, Old English crib ( b ); cognate with Dutch krib, German Krippe; crèche

Explanation

A crib is a bed with high sides that babies sleep in. To crib is to cheat, like copying off someone else during an exam. How babyish! A crib is a small, cozy bed that has high sides known as slats. The slats keep the baby from falling out. To crib is different — it means to cheat, especially by copying or stealing information. If you stole an answer key to a test, you cribbed it. If you friend told you the answers to some homework, you cribbed the answers. Cribbing is dishonest.

Example Sentences

The crib looks exactly the same as it did in the ’90s.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Just days after Alexa officially took ownership of her father’s Nolita crib, Joel slashed $4.9 million from his Long Island estate, Realtor.com® can reveal.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 9, 2025

I checked his crib, his stroller, the baby seat in the car.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

Urban, who kicked off his High and Alive world tour in May, moved out of the family home in Nashville and settled into his own separate crib, also in the country music hub.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025

The cuco bent its head down toward the crib and growled, but Beefy kicked the monstruo with one bare foot, his cute toes wiggling in the air.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

Related Words

• bunk
• cot
• rack