■ noun
1》 a small piece of paper, fabric, etc. attached to an object and giving information about it.
↘a piece of fabric sewn inside a garment and bearing the brand name, size, or care instructions.
2》 the name or trademark of a fashion company.
↘a company that produces recorded music.
3》 a classifying name applied to a person or thing, especially inaccurately.
↘(in a dictionary entry) a word or words used to specify the subject area, register, or geographical origin of the word being defined.
↘ Computing a string of characters used to refer to a particular instruction in a program.
4》 Biology & Chemistry a radioactive isotope, fluorescent dye, or enzyme used to make something identifiable.
5》 Heraldry a narrow horizontal strip superimposed on a coat of arms by an eldest son during the life of his father.
6》 Architecture another term for dripstone .
■ verb ( ~s , ~ling , ~led ; US ~s , ~ing , ~ed )
1》 attach a ~ to.
2》 assign to a category, especially inaccurately.
3》 Biology & Chemistry make (a substance, cell, etc.) identifiable using a ~.
Derivatives
~ler noun
Origin
ME: from OFr., 'ribbon', prob. of Gmc origin and related to lap 1 .