slab

plural slabs

1. A large, flat piece of solid material; a solid object that is large and flat.

   “The pier? You mean those few sodden logs tied together and that dingy slab of rough concrete.”

   2010, Ryan Humphreys, The Flirtations of Dan Harris, page 73

   3 more examples

   There were no windows in the inn. They were not required, since the interstices between the slabs suffered the wind, the rain, and the light of day to penetrate simultaneously.

   1859, John Lang, Botany Bay, or, True Tales of Early Australia, page 155

   Then there was the Mexican who sold big slabs of chewing taffy for five cents each. […] And many a day I made my entire lunch off of one of those slabs.

   1913 August, Jack London, chapter V, in John Barleycorn, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 45

   I was working in the lab late one night When my eyes beheld an eerie sight For my monster, from his slab, began to rise And suddenly, to my surprise He did the Mash He did the Monster Mash.

   1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers

2. A paving stone; a flagstone.
3. AustraliaA carton containing 24 cans (chiefly of beer).First known use 20th c.

   2008, Diem Vo, Family Life, Alice Pung (editor), page 156, However, unlike in Ramsay Street, there were never any cups of tea or bickies served. Instead, each family unit came armed with a slab of beer.

   4 more examples

   The Australians murder a few slabs of beer and the New Zealanders murder a few vowels.

   2001, Les Carlyon, Gallipoli, page 8

   The older man bought a slab of Coca-Cola at the counter and carried it out ahead of the younger man.

   2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 88

   Common 375-ml cans are called tinnies, and can be bought in 24-can slabs for discounted prices.

   2010, Holly Smith, Perth, Western Australia & the Outback, Hunter Publishing, unnumbered page

   One essential part of the strategy for selling regionally identified beers beyond their borders was the selling of slabs — a package of four six-packs of stubbies or cans — for discounted prices interstate.

   2009, Ross Fitzgerald, Trevor Jordan, Under the Influence: A History of Alcohol in Australia, published 2011, unnumbered page

4. An outside piece taken from a log or timber when sawing it into boards, planks, etc.
5. nauticalThe slack part of a sail.
6. hobbiesA very large wave.

   In August 2000 he successfully rode a slab of unfathomable power at Teahupo′o.

   2011, Douglas Booth, Surfing: The Ultimate Guide, page 95

   1 more example

   After being towed into a massive slab, Dorian dropped down the face and caught a rail, putting him in a near-impossible situation.

   2009, Bruce Boal, The Surfing Yearbook, SurfersVillage, page 31

7. computingThe amount by which a cache can grow or shrink, used in memory allocation.
8. geographyPart of a tectonic plate that is being, or has been, subducted.

   Being driven by the gravitational force, the subducting Pacific slab continues to sink down to the boundary between the upper and lower mantle […]

   2015, Dapeng Zhao, Multiscale Seismic Tomography, Springer, page 72

9. businessA poured-concrete foundation for a building.

   Next week they'll pour the slab that the shed will sit on.

10. geometryA region between two parallel lines in the Euclidean plane, or between two parallel planes in three-dimensional Euclidean space, or between two hyperplanes in higher dimensions.
11. IndiaespeciallyeconomicsAny of the several portions or tiers in a tax rate plan.

    Near-synonym: tax bracket

    1 more example

    The 56th meeting of the GST Council [for the Goods and Services Tax] on September 3, 2025 will be remembered as a defining milestone in India's tax history. These reforms go far beyond tax rates and structures. They represent a decisive shift towards a simpler, fairer, and growth-oriented system that is aligned with the aspirations of a Viksit Bharat 2047. A long-standing demand of both industry and consumers has been simplification of the multiple GST slabs (5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%). The move to a transparent “Simple Tax”, with just two rates, 18% as the Standard Rate and 5% as the Merit Rate, along with a 40% de-merit rate for a select few goods — is transformational.

    2025 September 5, Chandrajit Banerjee, “GST 2.0 is a landmark in India's tax journey. The simplification of the multiple GST slabs is an example of people's reform”, in The Hindu

    Synonyms: tax bracket

12. A flat, sealed plastic case that encloses a flat collector's item, such as a coin or a trading card.
13. USslangA large, luxury pre-1980 General Motors vehicle, particularly a Buick, Oldsmobile, or Cadillac.

    Video screens have also become a standard part of slab interiors.

    2016, Langston Collin Wilkins, “Officially Ridin' Swangas: Slab as tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Houston, Texas”, in Michelle L. Stefano, Peter Davis, editor, The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage, page 206

    1 more example

    After a few loops around the park, some drivers—most of them Black and Latino men in their twenties and thirties driving customized lowriders, bright, candy-colored slabs, and jacked-up trucks with flashy chrome rims—packed into a nearby middle school parking lot.

    2021 March 23, Peter Holley, “They Just Moved Into an Austin Neighborhood. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions.”, in Texas Monthly

14. abbreviationellipsisphysicalgeographyEllipsis of slab avalanche.

present singular third person slabs · participle present slabbing · participle past slabbed · past slabbed

1. transitiveTo make into a slab.
2. informaltransitiveTo destroy (a structure) so completely as to leave only the foundation slab visible.

   Multiple homes were slabbed by the monster tornado.

   Synonyms: raze

1. archaicuncountableMud, sludge, or other viscous matter.

   Some do also plant oziers in their eights, like quick-sets, thick, and (near the water) keep them not more than half a foot above ground; but then they must be diligently cleansed from moss, slab, and ouze, and frequently prun'd (especially the smaller spires) to form single shoots;[…].

   1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC

comparative slabber · comparative more slab · superlative slabbest · superlative most slab

1. archaicThick; viscous.

   Make the gruel thick and slab:

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

plural slabs

1. Southern USslangA car that has been modified with equipment such as loudspeakers, lights, special paint, hydraulics, and other accessories.

   Pull me over, try to check my slab

   2005, Chamillionaire (featuring Krayzie Bone), "Ridin'", The Sound of Revenge

   2 more examples

   I'mma swang, I'mma swing my slab lean to the left

   2006, Trae (featuring Pimp C and Big Hawk), "Swang", Restless

   All three of them recognized who the Lexus'^([sic]) belonged to so he parked his slab and they cocked their guns.

   2012, Bobby Austin, By All Mean$, AuthorHouse, published 2012, →ISBN, page 56

plural slabs

1. BritishdialectalobsoleteA bird, the wryneck.

plural slabs

1. computingA sequence of 12 adjacent bits, serving as a byte in some computers.