tab

noun

1. A small flap or strip of material attached to or inserted into something, for holding, manipulation, identification, opening etc.

   “insert tab A into slot B”

   “"His name was written upon a tab within it - Maple White, Lake Avenue, Detroit, Michigan."”

   “He pulls off his belt, cursing as the studs catch in the tabs of his jeans.”

   “We lifted the tabs on the cans and poured the brew carefully into glasses.”

2. (slang)An ear.
3. (broadly)A navigational widget, resembling a physical tab, for switching between documents or sets of controls.
4. (broadly)The page or form (for example, on a web browser or file manager) associated with such a navigational widget.

   “How many tabs are open on your browser right now?”

   “That’s the relief I feel when clearing all the tabs in my internet browser. Clicking the crosses like a long line of kisses finally indulged.”

5. (British-Army, slang)A fast march or run with full kit.
6. (Canada, US, informal)A restaurant bill.

   “to pick up the tab”

7. (Canada, US, informal)Credit account, e.g., in a shop or bar; slate.

   “to start a tab”

   “Put this round on my tab, please, barman.”

   “As he fished a Visa credit card out of his green leather wallet, the bartender yelled out a question over the music: “Do you want to start a tab?” Mr. Korinke shook his head no and swiftly closed out. The pair might order more drinks later on, but the prospect of opening a tab was verboten. […] His ethos reflects a growing phenomenon among Gen Z bargoers: an aversion to opening bar tabs.”

8. (broadly)The cost or bill for anything.

   “Moreover, at a tab of $9 million, the system's price is about $1 million less than a conventional heating-cooling plant […]”

9. A space character that extends to the next aligned column, traditionally used for tabulation.

   “No no no no I don't, it's not hate, hate is a strong word, truth be told I do have a slight preference for tabs but that's only because I'm anal and because I prefer precision.”

10. (Geordie, Mackem)A cigarette.

    “Lend us a tab!”

11. A form of musical notation indicating fingering rather than the pitch of notes, commonly used for stringed instruments.
12. A student of Cambridge University.

    “You should have been there---it was a good race. Just to clarify matters for the hard of understanding, the tabs led for about 1500m before turning to shrapnel, and Oxford eventually won by 3/4 length.”

    “Before Rachel gets in with a stab at the Tabs' coxing efforts, may I say that my experience of coxes on the Isis is somewhat similar.”

    “Plus, there's always been a healthy rivalry between the tabs and us, but I'm sure this has nothing to do with it ;-)”

    “I hope the Tabs get beaten! :-) I support Oxford for no real reason but they have a bad habit of losing to Cambridge recently.”

    “I have nothing against the girl (other than the fact she's a tab!), but it does strike me as a little daft!!”

13. (colloquial)A tabloid newspaper.

    “By 1926 the tabloid mania was at full tilt, and the tabs in New York went at each other with hammer and tong.”

    “The tabloids were able to spend much of the week confronting their demons. Maxine Carr's request to be released from prison early prompted the tabs to let her know what they thought of her suggestion.”

    “That is the attitude of the tabs: they cover the world's most important city.”

    “If ministers disappoint—they usually do—the tabloids can cry "betrayal". They never lose. But just because the tabs are often flagrantly dishonest (in more expensive papers you get a better class of dishonesty) doesn't mean they're always wrong.”

14. (informal)A tablet, especially one containing illicit drugs.

    “Tonight the kids will go out and party down in a more righteous mode. Alcohol and not a few tabs of X will be ingested. Club music will throb through big speakers.”

15. (informal)A tableau curtain.
16. A key on a computer keyboard that typically inserts a tab or moves the input focus.
17. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of tab (“student at Cambridge”).

verb

1. (transitive)To affix with tabs; to label.
2. To use the Tab key on a computer to advance the cursor or move the input focus, or on a typewriter to advance the carriage.

   “You can prevent a control from getting the focus when the user is tabbing between controls by settings its IsTabStop property to False.”