I. ˈslab, -lah(ə)b noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English slabbe, sclabbe
1. : a comparatively thick plate or slice of something (as of metal, stone, wood, or food)
a slab of bread
cut the marble into slabs
as
a.
(1) : the irregular outside piece cut from a log in squaring it or preparing it for being sawed into boards
(2) Australia & Africa : a thick roughhewn plank
(3) : a thin piece cut from a board in resawing (as for box making)
b. : a flat substantial piece of timber or stone forming the top of a table or counter
c. : a rectangular piece of iron or steel made by rolling an ingot so that the width of the section is at least twice the thickness — compare bloom
d. : plate 1h(2)
e. : a flat piece (as of stone, glass, or porcelain) on which drugs or colors are ground, printing ink distributed, or various substances (as ointments) are mixed
f. : concrete pavement (as of a road) ; specifically : a strip of concrete pavement laid as a single unjointed piece
g. : a sheet of crystallized sugar before it is cut into cubes
h. slabs plural : fruit halves (as of apricots, peaches) flattened and matted together during drying
i.
(1) : a flat rectangular architectural element that is usually formed of a single piece or mass
the use of a concrete foundation slab in modern small houses
the park included a dance slab
— see slab bridge
(2) : a rectangular building having small depth in comparison with its length and usually height and designed to provide optimum light and air distribution to the inside
2. : firewood cut from lumber waste (as edgings)
burned slab except in the coldest weather
3. : an offset of a bulb and especially of a narcissus bulb
II. verb
( slabbed ; slabbed ; slabbing ; slabs )
transitive verb
1.
a. : to saw, divide, or form into slabs
b. : to remove an outer slab from (as a log)
2.
a. : to cover (as a roadbed or roof) with slabs
b. : to support (as the sides of a shaft or well) with slabs
3. : to put or stick on in slabs : apply thickly
slabbed butter on the bread
enjoyed slabbing paint on the wall
intransitive verb
: to prepare or form slabs : slab something especially as an occupation
spent the winter slabbing at the mill
III. adjective
Etymology: probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to obsolete Danish slab slippery and probably to Danish slab slime
1. dialect chiefly England : thick , slimy , viscid
2. : sloppily sentimental ; also : put on thickly : using profuse and exaggerated language
prose too thick and slab
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: of Scandinavian origin; akin to Swedish dialect slabb slime, mud, slabba to roll in mud — more at slaver
chiefly dialect : slime , mud
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably short for slab line
: the slack part of a sail