slab /slæb/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . a thick flat piece of a hard material such as stone:
a concrete slab
paving slabs
slab of
They used a slab of concrete as a lid.
2 . slab of cake/chocolate/meat etc a large flat piece of cake etc
3 . on the slab informal lying dead in a hospital or ↑ mortuary
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THESAURUS
▪ piece an amount of something that has been cut or separated from the main part:
Could I have another piece of cake?
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a piece of broken glass
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Emma cut the pie into eight pieces.
▪ bit a piece. Bit is more informal than piece and is often used about smaller pieces:
The notes were written on bits of paper.
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He threw a bit of wood onto the fire.
▪ lump a small piece of something solid or firm that does not have a regular shape:
two lumps of sugar
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a lump of coal
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a lump of clay
▪ scrap a small piece of paper, cloth etc that is no longer needed:
I wrote the phone number on a scrap of paper.
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The dog was eating scraps of food off the floor.
▪ strip a long narrow piece of cloth, paper etc:
a strip of cloth
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The leather had been cut into strips.
▪ sheet a thin flat piece of something such as paper, glass, or metal:
a blank sheet of paper
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a sheet of aluminium
▪ slice a thin flat piece of bread, cake, meat etc cut from a larger piece:
a slice of pizza
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Cut the tomatoes into thin slices.
▪ chunk a piece of something solid that does not have a regular shape – used especially about food, rock, or metal:
The fruit was cut into large chunks.
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a chunk of bread
▪ hunk a large piece with rough edges, which has been cut or has broken off a bigger piece of food, rock etc:
a big hunk of cheese
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hunks of concrete
▪ block a piece of something solid, which has straight sides:
concrete blocks
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a block of cheese
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a block of ice
▪ slab a thick flat piece of stone, or of cake, meat etc:
The floor had been made from stone slabs.
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a slab of beef
▪ cube a piece that has six square sides – used especially about food:
a cube of sugar
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ice cubes
▪ wedge a piece that has a thick end and a pointed end, and is shaped like a ↑ triangle – used especially about food and metal:
a wedge of cheese
▪ bar a block of soap, chocolate, candy, or metal, which has straight sides:
a chocolate bar
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a bar of soap
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gold bars worth more than £26 million
▪ rasher British English a slice of bacon:
I usually have two rashers of bacon for breakfast.