tab
/tæb/ noun, verb
Forms tabs tabbing tabbed
- noun A small flap or strip of material attached to or inserted into something, for holding, manipulation, identification, opening etc. “insert tab A into slot B”
- noun (slang) An ear.
- noun A navigational widget, resembling a physical tab, for switching between documents or sets of controls.
- noun The page or form (for example, on a web browser or file manager) associated with such a navigational widget. “How many tabs are open on your browser right now?”
- noun (British Army, military slang) A fast march or run with full kit.
- verb (transitive) To affix with tabs; to label.
- noun (informal, chiefly Canada, US) A restaurant bill. “to pick up the tab”
- noun (informal, chiefly Canada, US) Credit account, e.g., in a shop or bar; slate. “to start a tab”
- noun (by extension) The cost or bill for anything.
- noun (typography, computing) A space character that extends to the next aligned column, traditionally used for tabulation.
- verb (computing) To use the Tab key on a computer to advance the cursor or move the input focus, or on a typewriter to advance the carriage.
- noun (Geordie and Mackem) A cigarette. “Lend us a tab!”
- noun A form of musical notation indicating fingering rather than the pitch of notes, commonly used for stringed instruments.
- noun (Oxbridge slang) A student of Cambridge University.
- noun (colloquial, publishing) A tabloid newspaper.
- noun (informal) A tablet, especially one containing illicit drugs.
- noun (informal, theater) A tableau curtain.
- noun (computing) A key on a computer keyboard that typically inserts a tab or moves the input focus.
Synonyms
tabulator mul:\t check chit yellow journalism tabloid tab key pill lozenge tablet
Antonyms
Etymology
First attested 1607, of uncertain origin.
Apocopation (shortening) of (variously) tabulate, tabulator, or tabulation.
Likely to have been formed by clipping the Geordie pronunciation of the word tobacco or alternatively from the brand name Ogden's Tabs.
Clipping of tablature.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tab”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details