cribbing

verb

Definition of cribbingnext
present participle of crib
as in inventing
to copy an idea, a piece of writing, etc., from someone else She cribbed a line or two from her favorite poet.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cribbing The new breed of post-rock bands, on the other hand, were cribbing ideas from the worlds of dance music and hip-hop. — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026 Recreating entire outfits, adopting your styling tricks, making a habit of hunting down your exact pieces, or cribbing an aesthetic that feels deeply tied to your identity is another. — Alesandra Dubin, Glamour, 17 Sep. 2026 Then there’s Sula, whose ending James borrows, tweaking the circumstances but cribbing the emotional beats. — Tembe Denton-Hurst, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026 Labels are cut off the clothing, not merely to deter competitors from cribbing their inventory, but to ensure the focus remains on the wondrously eclectic pieces, and not on who might have designed them. — New York Times, 31 July 2026 Although his personal favorite interpretation is Craig’s, the actor wanted to focus on the philosophical pillars of the character, rather than cribbing from anyone else’s work. — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cribbing
  1. inventing
  2. plagiarizing
  3. reproducing
  4. forging
  5. manipulating
  6. simulating
Verb
  • For the new movie, ILM preserved their recognizable silhouettes while inventing more realistic anatomy, movement and fighting styles.
    — Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Across both commercial ambient platforms and general-purpose models applied to clinical documentation, the more common failure is under-capture rather than inventing what wasn’t said.
    — Pat Williams, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of inventing
Verb
  • The writers of these biblical tales weren’t plagiarizing Homer, MacDonald says.
    — John Blake, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Both are easier than plagiarizing Wikipedia ever was!
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 13 Apr. 2026
Definition of plagiarizing
Verb
  • In 2003, however, Kember made a splash with Forged Prescriptions, a re-release that favored fuller mixes and extra overdubs which the band had jettisoned owing to the difficulty of reproducing them.
    — Gabriel Szatan, Pitchfork, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Future work will examine whether reproducing more of the intestine’s physical and chemical conditions can help maintain bacterial activity and improve performance.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of reproducing
Verb
  • Expanding worker retraining programs, investing in the ailing public school system, and improving access to community colleges will do far more than tariffs to rebuild the middle class—and are the first steps in forging a new social contract.
    — Charles Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2026
  • But since the start of the war, Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria have continued upgrading their navies while forging closer cooperation on maritime security, according to Carnegie.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of forging
Verb
  • She was also seen taking photos and manipulating notebooks on the victim’s desk, the police affidavit said.
    — Eduardo Cuevas, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Gandhi has alleged that the SIR is an instrument for manipulating elections.
    — Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of manipulating
Verb
  • Simulating an investment banker’s work is fundamentally different from simulating a software engineer’s work, CEO Jerry Wu tells Fortune.
    — Wen Shao, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Silicon sampling troubles some polling traditionalists who are uneasy about ethical and other implications of simulating human responses.
    — W. Joseph Campbell, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of simulating

Browse Nearby Words

cribbed
cribbing
cribs
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Cite this Entry

“Cribbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cribbing. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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