tab
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
First attested 1607, of uncertain origin.
Noun
tab (plural tabs)
- A small flap or strip of material attached to something, for holding, manipulation, identification, etc.
- 1993, Irvine Welsh: Trainspotting, p 333:
- He pulls off his belt, cursing as the studs catch in the tabs of his jeans.
- 1993, Irvine Welsh: Trainspotting, p 333:
- (slang) An ear.
- (by extension, graphical user interface) A navigational widget, resembling a physical tab, for switching between documents or sets of controls.
- (graphical user interface) The page or form associated with such a navigational widget.
- How many tabs are open in your Web browser?
- (informal) A tablet, especially one containing illicit drugs.
- 2008, Stephen King, Graduation Weekend:
- Tonight the kids will go out and party down in a more righteous mode. Alcohol and not a few tabs of X will be ingested. Club music will throb through big speakers.
- (British Army, military slang) A fast march or run with full kit.
Verb
tab (third-person singular simple present tabs, present participle tabbing, simple past and past participle tabbed)
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 2
Apocopation (shortening) of (variously) tabulate, tabulator, or tabulation.
Noun
tab (plural tabs)
- (informal, chiefly Canada, US) A restaurant bill.
- (informal, chiefly Canada, US) Credit account, e.g., in a shop or bar; slate
- Put this round on my tab, will you, barman.
- (computing) A space character that extends to the next aligned column, traditionally used for tabulation.
Verb
tab (third-person singular simple present tabs, present participle tabbing, simple past and past participle tabbed)
- (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.
- 2010, Chris Anderson, Pro Business Applications with Silverlight 4 (page 210)
- You can prevent a control from getting the focus when the user is tabbing between controls by settings its IsTabStop property to False.
- 2010, Chris Anderson, Pro Business Applications with Silverlight 4 (page 210)
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 3
Likely to have been formed by clipping the Geordie pronunciation of the word tobacco or alternatively from the brand name Ogden's Tabs.
Noun
tab (plural tabs)
Translations
References
- Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, →ISBN
Etymology 4
Noun
tab (plural tabs)
- A form of musical notation indicating fingering rather than the pitch of notes, commonly used for stringed instruments.
Translations
Etymology 5
Clipping of Cantab, from Cantabrigian, from Latin Cantabrigia (“Cambridge”).
Alternative forms
Noun
tab (plural tabs)
- (British slang) A student of Cambridge University.
Etymology 6
Noun
tab (plural tabs)
- (colloquial) A tabloid newspaper.
- 1999, George H. Douglas, The Golden Age of the Newspaper, p. 229:
- By 1926 the tabloid mania was at full tilt, and the tabs in New York went at each other with hammer and tong.
- 2010, Robert Lusetich, Unplayable: An Inside Account of Tiger's Most Tumultuous Season:
- That is the attitude of the tabs: they cover the world's most important city.
- 1999, George H. Douglas, The Golden Age of the Newspaper, p. 229:
Anagrams
Kurdish
Noun
Volapük
Etymology
Borrowed from English table (table → tab; compare French: table, Latin: tabula, Interlingua: tabula, Esperanto: tablo, Ido: tablo).
Pronunciation
Noun
tab (nominative plural tabs)
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
- English 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/æb
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- en:Smoking
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- vo:Furniture