What does cribbling mean?
Cribbling is the now-uncommon practice of feeding an animal — traditionally a horse — in small amounts at frequent intervals instead of in large, set meals. The verb "cribble" appears chiefly in older British agricultural and stable-management writing, where a careful groom might be said to have cribbled a valuable hunter back to health with handfuls of oats and hay offered throughout the day. The word carries a second, more cynical historical shade: unscrupulous horse dealers would cribble their stock, keeping animals constantly chewing so that they looked sleek and thriving even when undernourished. Formed from the familiar noun "crib" (a manger or fodder bin) with the frequentative suffix "-le," it belongs to a small family of terms for repeated action. Though largely archaic today, cribbling offers writers a precise, evocative way to describe patient, piecemeal feeding — and its association with old horse-trading tricks gives it real colour.
verbTo feed an animal, especially a horse, in small portions at frequent intervals rather than in full meals. Historically, the term also carried the sense of keeping a horse constantly nibbling so it appeared sleek and well-fed — sometimes as a dealer's trick to disguise poor condition.
- To feed an animal (especially a horse) in small quantities at short intervals.
- (Historical) To keep a horse supplied with small amounts of fodder so that it appears in better condition than it really is.
"The old groom insisted on cribbling the hunter through the winter, offering hay in handfuls rather than by the rackful."
"The mare was cribbled throughout convalescence, receiving a scoop of oats every couple of hours."
"Buyers were warned that dealers who cribbled their stock could hide a nag's true condition behind a healthy coat."
Victorian horse dealers had a trick called cribbling — keeping a horse endlessly nibbling hay so its glossy look masked a hollow frame.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cribbling
Cribbling derives from the verb "cribble," formed on the Middle English and Old English noun "crib" — a manger or stall for feeding animals — combined with the frequentative suffix "-le," which signals repeated or habitual action. The underlying Germanic root is shared with continental relatives such as Dutch "krib" and German "Krippe." The feeding sense developed in early modern English agricultural vocabulary, and the word has since fallen into obsolescence except in historical and dialectal contexts.
Related word forms
How cribbling is actually used
"Cribbling" is rare in modern usage and survives mainly in older agricultural and veterinary writing, particularly British. It is the present participle of the verb "cribble," which should not be confused with "crib," "cribbing" (the equine vice), or "crib-biting." Because many readers will not know the word, context making the feeding sense clear is essential.
Easily confused with cribbling
Scribbling means writing or drawing carelessly, whereas cribbling means feeding an animal in small, frequent portions.
Nibbling describes taking small bites of food generally, while cribbling specifically refers to feeding an animal little and often.
Cribbing refers both to a horse's stable vice of gnawing wood and to plagiarism, whereas cribbling means feeding in small portions.