tab
noun
a small flap, strap, loop, or similar appendage, as on a garment, used for pulling, hanging, or decoration.
tab
1 American
[tab]
/ tæb /
noun
-
a small flap, strap, loop, or similar appendage, as on a garment, used for pulling, hanging, or decoration.
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a tag or label.
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a small projection from a card, paper, or folder, used as an aid in filing.
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Informal.
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a bill, as for a meal in a restaurant; check.
That dinner went way over my budget, so I was relieved when she offered to pick up the tab.
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a list of accruing costs, as drinks ordered in a bar: .
Go ahead and order another round of beers—we’ve got a running tab
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a small piece attached or intended to be attached, as to an automobile license plate.
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a small flap or tongue of material used to seal or close the opening of a container.
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Also called tab key, tabulator. a key on a typewriter that moves the carriage, typing element, etc., a predetermined number of spaces, used for typing text in columns, for fixed indentations, etc.
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Also called tab key. a key on a computer keyboard that moves the cursor a predetermined number of spaces, used for keying text in columns or form fields, for fixed indentations, etc.
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Digital Technology.
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(in a web browser window or in a spreadsheet or other application) a page displayed by clicking on or selecting a user interface element that resembles a paper tab.
The third tab in the spreadsheet list expenses.
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the display of this user interface element.
I have too many tabs open in my browser right now.
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Theater.
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a small, often narrow, drop curtain, for masking part of the stage.
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Aeronautics. a small airfoil hinged to the rear portion of a control surface, as to an elevator, aileron, or rudder.
verb (used with object)
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tabs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tabbed,
past participle, past
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tabbing
present participle
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to furnish or ornament with a tab or tabs.
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to name or designate.
verb (used without object)
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tabs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tabbed,
past participle, past
-
tabbing
present participle
idioms
tab.
3
American
abbreviation
-
tables.
-
(in prescriptions) tablet.
tab
1
British
/ tæb /
noun
-
a small flap of material, esp one on a garment for decoration or for fastening to a button
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any similar flap, such as a piece of paper attached to a file for identification
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a small auxiliary aerofoil on the trailing edge of a rudder, aileron, or elevator, etc, to assist in the control of the aircraft in flight See also trim tab
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military the insignia on the collar of a staff officer
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a bill, esp one for a meal or drinks
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dialect a cigarette
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informal to keep a watchful eye on
verb
TAB
2
British
abbreviation
-
typhoid-paratyphoid A and B (vaccine)
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Totalizator Agency Board
tab
3
British
/ tæb /
tab.
4
British
abbreviation
tab
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tabsimple
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tabssimple
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have tabbedperfect
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has tabbedperfect
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am tabbingprogressive
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are tabbingprogressive
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is tabbingprogressive
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have been tabbingperfect progressive
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has been tabbingperfect progressive
Past
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tabbedsimple
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had tabbedperfect
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was tabbingprogressive
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were tabbingprogressive
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had been tabbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tab1
First recorded in 1600–10; most senses of unknown origin; tab 1 in def. 7 short for tabulator; tab 1 in def. 10 short for tableau; tab 1 in defs. 4, 15 short for table
Origin of tab2
First recorded in 1920–25; by shortening
Origin of tab.3
From the Latin word tabella
Explanation
A tab is an attached flap or piece of material. You use a metal tab to open a can of soda, and you might use plastic tabs to separate sections in your binder. Some tabs help you open packaging ("Grasp the plastic tab and pull to open"), and others give you information about or help you identify something. The noun tab also means "an additional document or page" on a computer screen, as well as "a space" on a keyboard or typewriter. In North America, it's another name for a bill as well: "Put it on my tab, please!"
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:
She added: "Naturally the taxpayer was left to pick up the tab for all of these delays - a bill which runs into the tens of millions of pounds."
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
We have a running tab at Boston Children’s Hospital, and a baseline level of uncertainty about her health.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
If they get lucky, Tuyo covers the tab.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Then I knocked another $350 off the tab by cashing in 35,000 American Express points.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Under the “family history” tab, Molly finds a sepia-toned picture of Agneta and Bernard Schatzman, who emigrated from Germany in 1915, resided at 26 Elizabeth Street.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
"His father is worth billions he could have picked up the tab. Clearly they just didn't want to pay for it," Libowitz said.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Everybody picks up this social tab. That feels good,” said Post.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2022
“Make sure when you get Gatorades, you put it on the golfer’s tab. They won’t mind,” Z laughed one day, his braids shaking underneath his bucket cap.
From Golf Digest ● Oct. 3, 2018
"The tab. You need to put the nachos on a card," she explained calmly.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2018
“Well, that was fast! I’ll just add it to the tab. When I can move again, I mean.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
For a good cause, order at Coffee TAB, a Belltown nonprofit that trains low-income students in barista skills.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2023
In a statement, TAB Bank defended its practices, saying it is a better option than payday loans and helps “consumers who have no or limited credit.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2022
TAB, he added, "would love to see a continued focus on the meat-and-potato issues that have made Texas the best place in the world to do business."
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2022
The FAA convened a TAB soon after the second Boeing 737 MAX crash in March 2019 to assist in its review of the grounded airplane.
From Reuters ● Feb. 28, 2022
TAB posted that picture of P. Total triator.
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
He kept careful tabs on the company’s progress using dozens of color-coded spreadsheets.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
Family dynamics run deep, and sorting through the complications involved in restricting a connection to the outside world or keeping tabs on an older person will look different for every household.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
It comes with an app so you can keep tabs on its performance, and the ability to automatically run during off-peak electricity hours.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026
The labour ministry stresses that it will keep tabs on companies to ensure they take measures to protect the wellbeing of employees.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
They wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble breaking me out if they hadn’t had a method of keeping tabs on me if I got recaptured or separated from them.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
Zacharia herself noted this phenomenon prior to being tabbed for the White House job.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
Some investors like to speculate about potential additions — presuming that stocks tabbed to join the S&P 500 will get short-term boosts as funds tracking the index will be forced to take positions.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
The NBA tabbed the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to lead a probe into the Clippers following reporting from the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out last September.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Santa Monica State Beach was tabbed to be the L.A. home for Olympic beach volleyball since the organizing committee’s first bid in 2016.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2025
A quick search in the database pulled up the exact same book, and I tabbed through to the first page, making sure the words were enlarged as much as possible.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
“Kind of like collecting Pokémon, except instead of collecting Pokémon, I’m tabbing birds in my guide book.”
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2025
They had lost in the divisional round in 2012 but had finished the season in a fashion that had many tabbing them as a Super Bowl favorite in 2013.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
Metta Sandiford-Artest — then known as Metta World Peace — was on that Lakers team and remembers tabbing Ham as a future coach.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2022
I careened across the internet like a drunk, tabbing: small-space decoration ideas; author interviews; videos of cake frosting; Renaissance paintings with feminist captions.
From Slate ● Jan. 8, 2020
Men would be going down to the river now—freshmen would be hearing reluctantly, some of them with tears, the coarse and violent criticism of the Third Year men who were tabbing them.
From The Prelude to Adventure by Sir Hugh Walpole
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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.
