Bib

A bib is a garment worn around the neck to protect clothing from spills and stains during meals. It is commonly used for infants and young children, but versions exist for adults with feeding difficulties or medical conditions. Most bibs are made of fabric such as cotton or silicone, with a fastener at the neck.

Designs include disposable paper or plastic bibs and reusable cloth bibs. Modern bibs often feature a pocket at the bottom to catch crumbs. Cleaning methods vary: cloth bibs are usually machine washable, while disposable bibs are discarded after use.

In academic writing, "bib" is short for bibliography or reference list. In digital formats, a .bib file stores bibliographic entries in a plain text format used by BibTeX and BibLaTeX to generate citations. Entries use types such as @article, @book, with fields like author, title, year, journal or publisher, and volume and number. The .bib file can then be processed by a LaTeX document to format citations and references according to a chosen style.

See also: bibliography, BibTeX, BibLaTeX, citation management.