lab
noun
lab
1 American
[lab]
/ læb /
noun
-
labs
plural
Lab
2
American
[lab]
/ læb /
noun
LAB
3
American
Or
lab
abbreviation
Slang.
lab.
4
American
abbreviation
-
labor.
-
laboratory.
-
laborer.
Lab.
5
American
abbreviation
-
Laborite.
-
Labrador.
Lab.
1
British
abbreviation
-
politics Labour
-
Labrador
lab
2
British
/ læb /
noun
-
short for laboratory
-
short for Labrador retriever
lab.
3
British
abbreviation
-
laboratory
-
labour
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
According to Rouse, the FBI lab in Virginia created three angles of Jackson’s composite face and released it to the public in late 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
“But we figured out that you should go out in the real world since it’s hard to get realistic data in a lab environment.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Although Church used OpenAI's most powerful model, GPT-6 Astra, other people have used top offerings from rival US lab Anthropic instead.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
And now, the six year old lab joins her owner on the beaches to sniff it out.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
She isn’t looking at me the way Havana did in the computer lab.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
The company’s Dream Lab occupies a 7,000 square feet space and employs a team of 13.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
Rocket Lab once again is delaying the maiden launch of its Neutron rocket, dealing a major blow to investors.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
SpaceX is a favorite, along with mini-SpaceX Rocket Lab.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
This near-term copper discount relative to further-out futures is between 5% to 6% on an annualized rate, which is historically steep, according to Ilia Bouchouev, director of the Commodities Quant Lab at Carnegie Mellon University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
He had been carefully coached by his brother, who had experienced Ernests hostility to politics in the Lab firsthand.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
While not all LAB are classified as probiotics, LAB are the most commonly used probiotics in food products.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2025
As a zit-faced grad student, I started a new research project that used lactic acid bacteria, or LAB, as a method for food safety.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2025
This difference in water content between the two layers constituting the LAB can explain the sharp velocity drops as well as the near constant attenuation observed over a wide frequency range in the asthenosphere.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 27, 2023
However, the work laid the foundation of skills that would prove beneficial in her new role as the artistic director of LAB.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
Almost the entire staff of what became the MIT AI LAB was involved with TMRC, and probably picked the word up there.
From The Jargon File, Version 2.9.10, 01 Jul 1992 by Eric S. Raymond
"This question did not start in the lab. It started in conversations with beekeepers," Baer said.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 20, 2026
“This is the zoo lab. This would be the botanist’s room on the Beagle,” he said.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2025
The message goes on to say "we've got a courier going to their family home tonight, child will take the test, and courier will take it straight to the lab. Should have result tomorrow am".
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2023
“Mr. Balwani had significant autonomy in running the lab. He made decisions that directly impacted the information that was communicated to patients,” Mr. Schenk said.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2022
“They’re giving me my own lab. Meanwhile, don’t tell them, but I’m purchasing mass quantities of research supplies: sugar, gelatin, cornstarch and...jelly bean molds!”
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
“There’s no limits for the Do Lab. It’s a good escape from everything else and it’s always the perfect vibe at sunset,” said Bocanegra.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2025
BlackSky, the launch customer, retweeted Rocket Lab’s statement, saying: “This is what we have received from Rocket Lab. We will continue to offer updates as we learn more.”
From The Verge ● May 15, 2021
“I’m working with my students and staff to move my work out of the Media Lab. That might involve moving to another part of MIT. It might mean moving elsewhere,” he told the newspaper.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 21, 2019
Through Aug. 12 at the Kennedy Center’s Theater Lab. $49-$59. 202-467-4600 or kennedy-center.org.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 26, 2018
“Big problem, though. The memory serum virus is in the Weapons Lab. The one Nita just tried—and failed—to break into.”
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Chinese officials have held discussions with domestic AI labs that produce the country’s most powerful models about how to protect their proprietary technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The EU wants to ramp up its capacity and is pouring billions into so-called AI gigafactories made up of advanced AI processors and energy-efficient data centres for companies and research labs.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
He urged AI labs to "listen when your scientists warn of severe dangers, investigate unexpected behaviours, and if you can't adequately control the risks, do not release the system".
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
As frontier AI labs soaked up the available compute, cloud providers moved to require multiyear contracts with upfront costs often as high as 30%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
Szilard and Fermi, working in separate labs at Columbia University, came up with a figure closer to 2.0—still a large quantity under the circumstances.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
