Standard Lemma guide

tab

noun · verb · 24 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /tæb/
  • [thæb̥]
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -æb
  • CMU ARPABET: T AE1 B Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • insert tab A into slot B

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: slot

2

noun

Meaning 2

An ear.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A navigational widget, resembling a physical tab, for switching between documents or sets of controls.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Topics: computing, engineering, graphical-user-interface, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The page or form (for example, on a web browser or file manager) associated with such a navigational widget.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Topics: computing, engineering, graphical-user-interface, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • How many tabs are open on your browser right now?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A fast march or run with full kit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: British-Army, slang

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A restaurant bill.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Canada, US, informal

Examples

  • to pick up the tab

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Credit account, e.g., in a shop or bar; slate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Canada, US, informal

Examples

  • to start a tab
  • Put this round on my tab, please, barman.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

The cost or bill for anything.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A space character that extends to the next aligned column, traditionally used for tabulation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, media, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, publishing, sciences, typography

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tabulator, mul:\t

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

A cigarette.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Geordie, Mackem

Examples

  • Lend us a tab!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

A student of Cambridge University.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: Oxbridge slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

A tabloid newspaper.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial

Topics: media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

noun

Meaning 14

A tablet, especially one containing illicit drugs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

noun

Meaning 15

A tableau curtain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, theater

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

noun

Meaning 16

A key on a computer keyboard that typically inserts a tab or moves the input focus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

17

noun

Meaning 17

Alternative letter-case form of tab (“student at Cambridge”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

18

verb

Meaning 18

To affix with tabs; to label.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

19

verb

Meaning 19

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

20

noun

Meaning 20

a dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pill, lozenge, tablet

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dose, dosage

Narrower terms: bolus, capsule, dragee, sleeping pill, sleeping tablet, sleeping capsule, sleeping draught

21

noun

Meaning 21

a short strip of material attached to or projecting from something in order to facilitate opening or identifying or handling it

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • pull the tab to open the can
  • files with a red tab will be stored separately
  • the collar has a tab with a button hole
  • the filing cards were organized by cards having indexed tabs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: strip, slip

22

noun

Meaning 22

the key on a typewriter or a word processor that causes a tabulation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tab key

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: key

23

noun

Meaning 23

sensationalist journalism

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: yellow journalism, tabloid

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: journalism, news media

24

noun

Meaning 24

the bill in a restaurant

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he asked the waiter for the check

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: check, chit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bill, account, invoice

History

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.

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

Clipping of tabloid.

Clipping of tablet.

From tab.

Across languages

Translations

98 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Danish: lap — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Estonian: lipik — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Finnish: välilehti — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Finnish: lappu — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Finnish: kevityslaippa — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • French: onglet — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • French: languette — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • German: Reiter — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • German: Karteikartenreiter — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Italian: linguetta — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Manx: fooag — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Portuguese: lingueta — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Russian: пете́лька (petélʹka) — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Russian: у́шко (úško) — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Spanish: lengüeta — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Swedish: flik — small flap or strip of material attached to something
  • Chinese Mandarin: 標籤 /标签 (biāoqiān) — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Chinese Mandarin: 分頁 /分页 (fēnyè) — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Czech: karta — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Czech: záložka — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Czech: panel — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Danish: fane — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Esperanto: langeto — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Estonian: kaart — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Finnish: välilehti — navigational widget in a GUI
  • French: onglet — navigational widget in a GUI
  • German: Registerkarte — navigational widget in a GUI
  • German: Reiter — navigational widget in a GUI
  • German: Tab — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Hebrew: לשונית — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Ido: etiketo — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Italian: scheda — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Japanese: タブ (tabu) — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Korean: 탭 (taep) — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Latvian: cilne — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Macedonian: табулатор (tabulator) — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Māori: ripa — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fane — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fane — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Polish: karta — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Polish: zakładka — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Portuguese: guia — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Portuguese: aba — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Portuguese: separador — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Russian: вкла́дка (vkládka) — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Russian: таб (tab) — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Scottish Gaelic: taba — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Serbo-Croatian: kartica — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Slovene: zavihek — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Slovene: kartica — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Spanish: pestaña — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Swedish: flik — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Turkish: sekme — navigational widget in a GUI
  • Finnish: taistelumarssi — fast march or run with full kit
  • Estonian: ratas — tablet, especially one containing illicit drugs
  • Finnish: tabu — tablet, especially one containing illicit drugs
  • Finnish: nappi — tablet, especially one containing illicit drugs
  • Bulgarian: сметка (smetka) — restaurant bill
  • Danish: regning — restaurant bill
  • Dutch: rekening — restaurant bill
  • Estonian: arve — restaurant bill
  • Finnish: lasku — restaurant bill
  • French: note — restaurant bill
  • French: addition — restaurant bill
  • French: douloureuse — restaurant bill
  • Plautdietsch: Zadel — restaurant bill
  • Spanish: cuenta — restaurant bill
  • Swedish: nota — restaurant bill
  • Danish: regning — credit in a shop or bar
  • Danish: faktura — credit in a shop or bar
  • Dutch: rekening — credit in a shop or bar
  • Estonian: arve — credit in a shop or bar
  • Finnish: piikki — credit in a shop or bar
  • Finnish: tili — credit in a shop or bar
  • Finnish: lasku — credit in a shop or bar
  • French: ardoise — credit in a shop or bar
  • Swedish: räkning — credit in a shop or bar
  • Estonian: tabeldi — short for tabulator
  • Finnish: sarkain — short for tabulator
  • Finnish: tabulaattori — short for tabulator
  • Finnish: tabi — short for tabulator
  • Finnish: täbi — short for tabulator
  • French: onglet — short for tabulator
  • Greek: στηλοθέτης (stilothétis) — short for tabulator
  • Japanese: タブ (tabu) — short for tabulator
  • Russian: табуля́тор (tabuljátor) — short for tabulator
  • Russian: таб (tab) — short for tabulator
  • Chinese Mandarin: 製表符 /制表符 (zhìbiǎofú) — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Esperanto: tabo — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Finnish: sarkainmerkki — a space character that extends to the next column
  • French: tabulation — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Hungarian: tabulátor — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Japanese: タブ (tabu) — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Korean: 탭 (taep) — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Portuguese: tabulação — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Russian: табуля́ция (tabuljácija) — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Russian: таб (tab) — a space character that extends to the next column
  • Swedish: tabb — a space character that extends to the next column