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• lab
  lab

  noun

  laboratory.
• Lab
  Lab

  noun

  Labrador retriever.
• LAB
  LAB

  abbreviation

  life’s a bitch (used to acknowledge, often dismissively, a difficult or unfair circumstance).
• lab.
  lab.

  abbreviation

  labor.
• Lab.
  Lab.

  abbreviation

  Laborite.

lab

¹ American  

[lab] / læb /

noun

labs plural

1. laboratory.

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Lab ² American  

[lab] / læb /

noun

1. Informal. Labrador retriever.

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LAB ³ American  

Or lab

abbreviation

Slang.

1. life’s a bitch (used to acknowledge, often dismissively, a difficult or unfair circumstance).

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lab. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. labor.

2. laboratory.

3. laborer.

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Lab. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Laborite.

2. Labrador.

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Lab. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. politics Labour

2. Labrador

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lab ² British  

/ læb /

noun

1. short for laboratory

2. short for Labrador retriever

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lab. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. laboratory

2. labour

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• labs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lab¹

By shortening

Origin of Lab²

By shortening

Origin of LAB³

From its use in digital communications

Explanation

A lab is a room or building where science experiments, tests, and research are done. Most high schools have science labs for biology and chemistry classes. Lab is shorthand for laboratory, with its Medieval Latin root laboratorium, "a place for labor or work," from the Latin laborare, "to work." Many scientists and researchers go to work each day in a lab (often wearing a "lab coat," a white smock that protects their clothes). Some labs are equipped for studying the way plants grow and reproduce, while in others scientists study the brainwaves of human subjects or the traits of a virus. If you are a scientist, chances are you hang out in a lab.

Example Sentences

Previously, he worked as a researcher at Cortico and the MIT Media Lab and as a writer and engineer at Quartz.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026

Analysts at Citizens and Roth Capital raised their price targets for Rocket Lab stock to $130 following the announcement.

From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026

Citizens analyst Trevor Walsh raised his Rocket Lab stock price target to $130 from $95.

From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026

Beck said the acquisition of Iridium will propel Rocket Lab into the satellite communications business.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2026

The Lab mix in kennel 8 has been at the shelter the longest, 18 days, but should be adopted between 16 and 20 days.

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty

Related Words

• workshop