public crib

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

These people seem to consider that it is their right to thus feed at the public crib.

From The Children of the Poor by Riis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)

In the United States such men are described as "feeding at the public crib."

From The History of Cuba, vol. 4 by Johnson, Willis Fletcher

But my father in those days was a peace-man, and he was also disinclined to nibble at the public crib while rendering no adequate service.

From The Last Leaf Observations, during Seventy-Five Years, of Men and Events in America and Europe by Hosmer, James Kendall

Bridger's share of the spoils—the consulship at Ratona—was little more than a prune—a dried prune from the boarding-house department of the public crib.

From Whirligigs by Henry, O.

A taste of public life is fatal to most men, and the desire to feed from the public crib goes right to the bone.

From The Statesmen Snowbound by Fitzgerald, Robert