cubby

plural cubbies

1. A small, confined space.
2. A cell in a shelf for storing items, particularly in a school.

   It’s standard for Norwegian kindergartens to have rows of cubbies just inside the door, each storing layers of spare clothes, including rain and snow gear and boots and mittens.

   2024, Jackie Mader, In Norway, having a joyful, secure childhood is a right enshrined into law, in: The Christian Science Monitor, October 15 2024

   Synonyms: pigeonhole

3. OrkneyarchaicA cup-shaped straw basket with a strap

   We have not time to describe the windo' cubbie, sawing cubbie or the smaller horse cubbie and bait and sea cubbies.

   1911, James Omond, Orkney 80 Years Ago (With Special Reference to Evie)

   2 more examples

   He was carrying the necessary stones in a "cubby" when the "fettle" broke, the stones fell out, and this mound was formed.

   1931, Proceedings of the Orkney Antiquarian Society, 1923–31

   The fettle was just as long as to allow the fore-arm to pass through and sustain the weight of the cubbie as it was slung over the left shoulder - the usual practise, except in the case of beggars, who carried their cubbies on their backs like a caisey

   1909, Old-lore Miscellany Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland