What does cribbage mean?
Cribbage is a classic card game for two or more players, traditionally played with a standard 52-card deck and a distinctive wooden scoring board fitted with rows of holes and small pegs. Players score points by combining cards to make runs, pairs, and totals of fifteen, advancing their pegs along the board toward a target score, typically 121 points. A defining feature is the 'crib,' an extra hand of discarded cards that alternates between players each deal, from which the game takes its name. First popularized in seventeenth-century England, cribbage has remained a beloved fixture of homes, pubs, and clubs across Britain and North America. The word also denotes the score itself, as in a player's tally during play. Beyond its literal sense, cribbage evokes a cozy, traditional atmosphere, making it both a precise term for gamers and a nostalgic cultural touchstone in everyday conversation.
A card game for two or more players in which points are scored by forming combinations of cards, typically tallied with pegs on a specially designed board.
"They spent the long winter evenings playing cribbage in front of the fire."
A score or point total achieved in a hand or round of the card game cribbage.
"That hand gave her a cribbage of eighteen points."
Rarely pluralized; when referring to multiple instances of the game or scores, 'games of cribbage' or 'hands' is more natural.
"Over the weekend they played several cribbages, each one closer than the last."
Cribbage has been played since the early 1600s — legend credits its invention to English poet Sir John Suckling — and its distinctive pegged scoring board remains one of the oldest continuously used gaming accessories in the English-speaking world.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cribbage
Cribbage derives from the earlier English noun 'crib', which referred to a manger or basket, and later came to mean a confined space or, in gambling contexts, a pooled set of cards. The suffix '-age' was added to form the name of the game, likely because the discarded cards set aside during play were likened to a 'crib' or store. The game emerged in England in the early seventeenth century and has been associated with the poet and courtier Sir John Suckling, though his exact role is debated. The word is essentially unique to English and has no widely known cognates beyond its root 'crib'.
Related word forms
How cribbage is actually used
Cribbage is a common noun referring to a traditional pastime rather than an abstract concept. The term carries a warm, old-fashioned connotation, often evoking family gatherings, pubs, or rural leisure. It is used in both British and American English without regional variation in meaning.
Easily confused with cribbage
A crib is a baby's bed or, informally, plagiarized work, whereas cribbage is specifically the card game whose name derives from 'crib'.