- 1a small piece of paper, cloth, metal, etc. that sticks out from the edge of something, and that is used to give information about it, or to hold it, fasten it, etc. Insert tab A into slot 1 (= for example to make a model, box, etc.).
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- 2= tab stop
- 3= pull tab
- 4a bill for goods you receive but pay for later, especially for food or drinks in a restaurant or bar; the price or cost of something a bar tab Can I put it on my tab? The tab for the meeting could be $3,000.
- 5(informal) a small solid piece of an illegal drug a tab of Ecstasy
- 6= tablature guitar tabs Idioms
to watch someone or something carefully in order to know what is happening so that you can control a particular situation It's not always possible to keep tabs on everyone's movements.
to pay for something The company picked up the tab for his hotel room.
Check pronunciation: tab