Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. the stomach.

1641

R. Brome Jovial Crew II i: Here’s Pannam and Lap, and good Poplars of Yarrum, / To fill up the Crib, and to comfort the Quarron.

2. provisions; also attrib.

1700		N. Ward ‘A Frolic to Horn-Fair’ in Writings (1704) 209: With as much indignation and Revenge, as a She-Mumper, when Bilk’d of her crib.
1833		‘The Cly-Pecker’ Swell!!! or, Slap-Up Chaunter 38: The tipp’ry was ask’d for the crib, and agree’d.
1953		T.A.G. Hungerford Riverslake 21: ‘Where can I go to look for him?’ ‘In the crib-room,’ one of the men at the bench voluteered.

3. (Aus./N.Z.) a snack, a light meal, a piece of bread, cake etc; thus crib bag, crib break, crib room, cribtime.

1870		Old Hunks in Darkey Drama 5 53: harry: I’m witness that you promised to give Tommy something better than a crib. tommy: A good round dinner.
1900–10		Stephens & O’Brien Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.] 52: CRIB: miners term for a twenty-minute interval for food or smoke-ho, known as crib-time; and lunch carried to work is known as crib.
1906		E. Dyson ‘A Saturday at Spat’s’ in Fact’ry ’Ands 123: She [...] spoke a three minutes grace over a ‘crib’ of bread and jam that it took her two minutes to eat.
1926		K.S. Prichard Working Bullocks 105: The bullockies and swampers threw themselves under trees near the landing for crib, at midday [...] they sat there drinking black tea and eating their dry bread and sandwiches.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxiii 4/4: crib: The food taken to work. Not so much a popular expression in the city.
1973		(con. 1930s) F. Huelin ‘Keep Moving’ 49: Bring your cribs and be on time.
1993		Aus. Word Map 🌐 crib [...] ‘My father who was a bus driver in Perth from the 1940s to the 1970s used to take 'his crib' to work, like other drivers. This was his meal to be had during his main break’ [...] ‘ the word CRIB which I understand to mean mid day meal (as used in Broken Hill) comes from a cornish [...] origin [...] the container which one used to carry ones crib in which was a cane or wickerware basket which was called a cribbage’ .
1993		Aus. Word Map 🌐 ‘“Crib” was the common word for a meal break. We had a “crib-room” where we used to have our meals and we took our lunch (and sundry other items) to work in a “crib-bag”. Also, if we were asked to work overtime with less than 24 hour’s notice we would request a “crib docket” to get food from the canteen at discounted prices’.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 55: crib/cribtime Mealtime or smoko in the South Island.