tab

tab

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Tabasaran.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Tabasaran terms

• IPA^(key): /tæb/, [tʰæb̥]

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æb

First attested 1607, of uncertain origin.

tab (plural tabs)

1. A small flap or strip of material attached to or inserted into something, for holding, manipulation, identification, opening etc.

   Antonym: slot

   Coordinate term: tang

   insert tab A into slot B

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     "His name was written upon a tab within it - Maple White, Lake Avenue, Detroit, Michigan."

   • 1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, “Station to Station”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 333:

     He pulls off his belt, cursing as the studs catch in the tabs of his jeans.

   • 2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 18:

     We lifted the tabs on the cans and poured the brew carefully into glasses.

2. (slang) An ear.
4. (by extension, graphical user interface) A navigational widget, resembling a physical tab, for switching between documents or sets of controls.
5. (graphical user interface) The page or form associated with such a navigational widget.

   How many tabs are open in your Web browser?

   • 2020 December 11, Hannah Jane Parkinson, “Is your browser window full of open tabs? Time for a digital declutter”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     That’s the relief I feel when clearing all the tabs in my internet browser. Clicking the crosses like a long line of kisses finally indulged.

6. (British Army, military slang) A fast march or run with full kit.

tab (third-person singular simple present tabs, present participle tabbing, simple past and past participle tabbed)

1. (transitive) To affix with tabs; to label.

Apocopation (shortening) of (variously) tabulate, tabulator, or tabulation.

tab (plural tabs)

2. (informal, chiefly Canada, US) A restaurant bill.

   to pick up the tab

3. (informal, chiefly Canada, US) Credit account, e.g., in a shop or bar; slate.

   to start a tab

   Put this round on my tab, please, barman.

   • 2025 May 31, Paula Mejía, “Gen Z Doesn’t Want to Start a Bar Tab”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     As he fished a Visa credit card out of his green leather wallet, the bartender yelled out a question over the music: “Do you want to start a tab?” Mr. Korinke shook his head no and swiftly closed out. The pair might order more drinks later on, but the prospect of opening a tab was verboten. […] His ethos reflects a growing phenomenon among Gen Z bargoers: an aversion to opening bar tabs.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

4. (by extension) The cost or bill for anything.
   • 1984, Time, volume 123, number 1:

     Moreover, at a tab of $9 million, the system's price is about $1 million less than a conventional heating-cooling plant […]

5. (typography, computing) A space character that extends to the next aligned column, traditionally used for tabulation.

   Synonyms: tabulator, \t

   • 2016 May 29, Carson Mell, “Bachmanity Insanity”, in Silicon Valley, season 3, episode 6, spoken by Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch):

     No no no no I don't, it's not hate, hate is a strong word, truth be told I do have a slight preference for tabs but that's only because I'm anal and because I prefer precision.

     ̅

tab (third-person singular simple present tabs, present participle tabbing, simple past and past participle tabbed)

1. (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.

• Alt-Tab, alt-tab
• pick up the tab
• tabability
• tabable
• tabbed

Likely to have been formed by clipping the Geordie pronunciation of the word tobacco or alternatively from the brand name Ogden's Tabs.

tab (plural tabs)

1. (Geordie and Mackem) A cigarette.

   Lend us a tab!

• Frank Graham, editor (1987), “TAB”, in The New Geordie Dictionary, Rothbury, Northumberland: Butler Publishing, →ISBN.

Clipping of tablature.

tab (plural tabs)

1. A form of musical notation indicating fingering rather than the pitch of notes, commonly used for stringed instruments.

Clipping of Cantab, from Cantabrigian, from Latin Cantabrigia (“Cambridge”).

• Tab

tab (plural tabs)

1. (Oxbridge slang) A student of Cambridge University.
   • 1995 January 20, Paul Thomas, “Re: >Re: Those 'orrible Tabs”, in rec.sport.rowing‎^[3] (Usenet):

     You should have been there---it was a good race. Just to clarify matters for the hard of understanding, the tabs led for about 1500m before turning to shrapnel, and Oxford eventually won by 3/4 length.

   • 1995 February 7, "Laser Cartridge" [username], “Re: Cambridge News, again.”, in rec.sport.rowing‎^[4] (Usenet):

     Before Rachel gets in with a stab at the Tabs' coxing efforts, may I say that my experience of coxes on the Isis is somewhat similar.

   • 1998 January 17, whitey [username], “Re: Tab bashing (was University Challenge - Its pish)”, in rec.arts.tv.uk.misc‎^[5] (Usenet):

     Plus, there's always been a healthy rivalry between the tabs and us, but I'm sure this has nothing to do with it ;-)

   • 2002 March 27, The Guv'nor [username], “Re: My target this week was...”, in uk.rec.bodybuilding‎^[6] (Usenet):

     I hope the Tabs get beaten! :-) I support Oxford for no real reason but they have a bad habit of losing to Cambridge recently.

   • 2002 March 29, Caroline Smith, “Re: Lifejackets thread returns... [was Re: Boat Race]”, in rec.sport.rowing‎^[7] (Usenet):

     I have nothing against the girl (other than the fact she's a tab!), but it does strike me as a little daft!!

   • 2006 March 30, JY [username], “Veterans Boat Race (that's Oxford, England vs Cambridge, England)”, in rec.sport.rowing‎^[8] (Usenet):

     Anybody know who won? ¶ Or should that be, how much did the Tabs win by? ;-)

Clipping of tabloid.

tab (plural tabs)

1. (colloquial, publishing) A tabloid newspaper.
   • 1999, George H. Douglas, The Golden Age of the Newspaper‎^[9], Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 229:

     By 1926 the tabloid mania was at full tilt, and the tabs in New York went at each other with hammer and tong.

   • 2004 January 16, Michael Hann, “The tabloid week”, in The Guardian‎^[10], →ISSN:

     The tabloids were able to spend much of the week confronting their demons. Maxine Carr's request to be released from prison early prompted the tabs to let her know what they thought of her suggestion.

   • 2010, Robert Lusetich, Unplayable: An Inside Account of Tiger's Most Tumultuous Season‎^[11], Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     That is the attitude of the tabs: they cover the world's most important city.

   • 2010 November 8, Michael White, “It is silly for liberals to pretend that no one plays the benefit system”, in The Guardian‎^[12], →ISSN:

     If ministers disappoint—they usually do—the tabloids can cry "betrayal". They never lose. But just because the tabs are often flagrantly dishonest (in more expensive papers you get a better class of dishonesty) doesn't mean they're always wrong.

Clipping of tablet.

tab (plural tabs)

1. (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.

tab (plural tabs)

1. (informal, theater) A tableau curtain.

• tabless

• tin tab

• ATB, abt., B.T.A., BTA, TBA, bat, bat-, Bat-, ABT, abt, BAT

Derived from the verb tabe (“to lose”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈtˢæˀb̥]

tab n (singular definite tabet, plural indefinite tab)

1. loss
2. casualty

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): [ˈtˢæˀb̥], (colloquial) IPA^(key): [ˈtˢæwˀ]

tab

1. imperative of tabe

From French table.

• IPA^(key): /tab/

tab

1. table

Cognate with Kabiye tɔʋ, Gur Lama tʋn, Tem tɔ́ɔ́wʊ, Mbelime ta̰nbù, Gourmanchéma dabanli, Moba talbann, Farefare tãpɔ, Moore tãpo, Dagbani tɔbu, Ntcham butɔbu.

tab b (plural tawni ɦi)

1. bow

• Bakabima, Koulon Stéphane; Nicole, Jacques (2018), Nawdm-French Dictionary‎^[13]

tab

1. romanization of 𒋰 (tab)

Borrowed from English table (table → tab; compare French: table, Latin: tabula, Interlingua: tabula, Esperanto: tablo, Ido: tablo).

• IPA^(key): [tab]

tab (genitive taba, plural tabs)

1. table (item of furniture)

• taib

Borrowed from English tab.

• IPA^(key): /tab/
• Rhymes: -ab

tab m (plural tabiau or tabs)

1. tab (numerous senses)

   Mae gen ti ormod o dabiau ar agor.

   You've got too many tabs open.

   Rho fe ar y tab.

   Put it on the tab.

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “tab”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies