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:
And for that they would be able to go to doctors, have lab tests, and see physical therapists without asking an insurance company for permission.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Concerns about AI safety have escalated in recent months after models developed by OpenAI and rival lab Anthropic were involved in security incidents during testing.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
Oura offers its customers the option to order lab tests via their devices.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
The surviving effective altruists were to build a lab for engineering the next generation of humans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
He made a beeline to the inner lab where Dr. Achebe and Dr. Carroll had done all his tests.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
Rocket Lab secures 20 additional launches for Synspective, while Citi initiates coverage with a Buy rating and $105 price target.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
"It's not a dead-end," said Incandela Lab graduate student researcher Danyi Zhang.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Jonathan Wyner, head of artistic technology initiatives at Berklee College of Music’s Emerging Artistic Technology Lab, compared the AI deals to the arrival of streaming services.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
That’s roughly how much extra U.S. consumers have spent on gasoline and diesel during the Iran conflict and disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to estimates by the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Despite Kurie’s doubts, signs already had emerged that tinkering was yielding to serious science in the Rad Lab.
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
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
LAB will also be featured in the 2024 Laguna Dance Festival.
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
"We used to have on average 10 applicants daily at our government analytical lab. We are now averaging 100 daily and the numbers are still increasing," he added.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2023
“Adding size to the helmet does the same thing. It’s very difficult to recreate this in a lab. We aren’t sure if this will be a net positive or a net negative.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2022
"Can you move my lab mice somewhere safe? They're in the bio lab. It's just one cage."
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
“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
More is being spent on speed than safety in the AI labs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
As well as Black Forest Labs, Europe has other competitive AI companies, including France's Mistral, but is still seen as trailing US firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic and Chinese labs such as DeepSeek.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
For now, China generally seems less alarmed by the types of risks U.S. frontier labs are warning about, Winter-Levy said, but that is partly due to Chinese companies running behind.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026
"Especially now that we know similar incidents had been happening months earlier in secret at a handful of frontier labs without monitoring," Delangue added.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Farmer had earlier gotten laughs when he said that in America there were lots of labs and no TB.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
