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:
Sitting in the state-of-the-art computer lab at Dundee's Abertay University decades on, Jones tells me the developers still felt they had to bring something new to the table.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2026
Readers shared their thoughts about what other foods should be grown in a lab, or otherwise cultivated through science.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026
Sapkota had recently joined the Shirey lab at the Florida Museum and was eager to lead the investigation.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2026
Agents design menus, craft workouts and make preventative doctors’ appointments, following up when lab results haven’t come through.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026
Its edge glinted in the white lab light.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
An important opportunity to test the technology came in 2024, when researchers from Beyeler's Bionic Vision Lab traveled to Spain.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2026
Harvard’s Pricing Lab, which Mr. Trump cited in these pages as proof that foreigners pay at least 80% of the tariffs, actually found consumers bearing up to 43%, “with the rest absorbed by U.S. firms.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
And while Rocket Lab projected fourth-quarter revenue that, at the high point of $290 million, would represent a nearly 10% increase compared to expectations, it modeled a steeper adjusted loss than expected.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2026
Preliminary data from the University of Florida Election Lab indicates that approximately 48.8 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2026 midterm election, making it the second-highest midterm turnout in over a century.
From Slate ● Nov. 5, 2026
But the ferment among the bomb scientists continued—centered, as always, at the Met Lab in Chicago.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Assuming a bloom of virulent C. acnes was to blame, I hypothesized that recolonizing my skin microbiota with probiotic LAB could effectively treat my acne.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2025
It’s worth mentioning that LAB is an umbrella term for a group of bacteria that share certain characteristics, with the most notable being their ability to produce lactic acid.
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
Barak Ballet was on the heels of its 10-year anniversary before she joined LAB.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
LAB, s. a stroke; a blow; a lump.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume XXIV. by Alexander Leighton
"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
“If you see how our plant is going to operate, it’s like a lab. So we need a lot of young talented people.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
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
“You know that’s not what I mean. Away from the lab. Away from the university. Alone.”
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
“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
In contrast, Chinese labs are "scared of revealing things that might hurt their reputation" -- on which they are already "fighting an uphill battle" globally, Chan said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2026
That race dynamic, whether between the U.S. and China or between rival AI labs, has helped fuel incredible amounts of spending on Nvidia chips and investments more broadly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026
Nvidia has poured over $60 billion into over 200 startups, including AI labs OpenAI and Anthropic, according to the Financial Times.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 13, 2026
Early last year, a cutting-edge AI model from China’s DeepSeek raised concerns AI labs wouldn’t need as many chips to train frontier models.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
The Rad Lab occupied a special place among the Manhattan District labs for other reasons.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
