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:
During the same period that Google and DeepMind were navigating their new relationship, a rival lab by the name of OpenAI had begun working on a large language model.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
This is a work college where all students hold jobs on campus like farmer, fiber artist and genetics lab tech.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
The lab staff viewed his idea as “a little insane,” one recalled — both unreliable and improper.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Hassabis’s efforts represent some of the most extensive and concrete steps undertaken by an official representing a leading lab.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
He sighed and put on the lab coat.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
Meanwhile, an analysis by the Yale Budget Lab concluded that consumers are paying anywhere from half to the entire cost of the levies through higher prices, depending on the goods.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Hammerheads were sighted off the Southern California coast in 2015, during the last strong El Niño cycle, California State University Long Beach Shark Lab expert Chris Lowe said in an email.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
IAB Tech Lab updated its privacy standards to help ad-tech firms transmit consumer choices and data-deletion requests across the ad ecosystem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Dr. Anthony Romilio of The University of Queensland's Dinosaur Lab studied more than 130 footprints spread across the 95.5-meter track.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
The son of a Yale Medical School professor, Henderson had grown up with the Blumer girls and earned his doctorate at the Cavendish before joining the Rad Lab in 1932.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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
Basically, the idea was to explore how LAB could be used to colonize a food environment in order to prevent the outgrowth of spoilage or pathogenic bacteria.
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
Following five years as a dancer at LAB, Barak launched her own company in 2013.
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
“Call Dana Menzer instead. She’s the head of this lab. We’re—we’re friends of her daughter.”
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
“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
It remains a mystery why the smartest machines in the universe need our moral support, but researchers inside the frontier labs do have theories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Suzor said he has met employees from top American AI labs since publishing his report, but is skeptical whether they could change anything.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Despite safety-testing, the AI labs building these systems are still unable to fully control them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Increased demand from AI labs, hyperscalers and enterprises led CoreWeave’s revenue backlog to reach $104 billion at the end of the second quarter, up 246% from a year prior.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
This time it was a joint meeting in Berkeley of the AEC, the General Advisory Committee, and the heads of the government labs.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions 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.
