Definition of slab in English:

slab

Pronunciation /slab/ /slæb/

noun

1A large, thick, flat piece of stone, concrete, or wood, typically rectangular.
‘paving slabs’
‘she settled on a slab of rock’
- ‘Massive concrete floor slabs provide thermal storage, collecting heat and giving it off again later on.’
- ‘Concrete paving slabs, available from the big DIY chains, can look almost as good as the real thing.’
- ‘A concrete slab on grade or floor is going to crack.’
- ‘Many of the stone paving slabs are 200 years old and too expensive for Leeds City Council to replace.’
- ‘Hot and cold running water leads to a newly enameled green tub set on a thick stone slab.’
- ‘Stone slabs were removed and the footpaths were cemented.’
- ‘Rev stood in a dark stone room with a large rectangular slab of metal hanging close to the ground.’
- ‘On the ground he will place a granite slab recording the building's history.’
- ‘The court heard that Mr Baker was injured when marble slabs fell on him.’
- ‘Water flows through radiant tubes in floor slabs for both heating and cooling.’
- ‘The panels form 5-inch-wide concrete joists integral with the floor slab.’
- ‘The walled back garden is laid in concrete paving slabs with flowerbeds in the border.’
- ‘The weight of the chair back is equivalent to two paving slabs.’
- ‘There he tipped the lot onto a cement slab and stepped back smartly.’
- ‘I saw her face, cold as stone and heavy as a marble slab.’
- ‘At the Tileco warehouse they have all these precut granite slabs held together with heavy straps.’
- ‘The heavy slabs laid to cover drains along the tracks hinder cleaning and have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.’
- ‘The court heard that Mr Baker was injured when marble slabs fell on him.’
- ‘It has been carved from a massive slab of marble.’
- ‘He pushed it and the next sound heard was of two marble slabs being rubbed together.’
slab, flagstone, flag, sett
View synonyms
1. 1.1A large, thick slice or piece of cake, bread, chocolate, etc.
  ‘ a slab of bread and cheese’
  ‘Stuff it into a red bell pepper instead of sandwiching it between two slabs of Wonder bread.’
  ‘We enjoyed it with a slab of delicious chocolate cake.’
  ‘There is something utterly indulgent, delicious and satisfying about a slab of chocolate cake.’
  ‘Between killings Uzi wolfed down enormous slabs of apple pie and chocolate mousse cake.’
  ‘The mussels bathe in a chilli and wine concoction, perfect for dipping the slabs of brown bread that accompany the meals.’
  ‘My lunch consisted of bread and cheese, two small slabs of beef and two apples and water, all of which I shared with Khalon.’
  ‘There were also dense slabs of chocolate fondant, and an apple croustade with a light, frilly crust that melted to butter in your mouth.’
  ‘The frittata roll is also divine: a squidgy herby omelette sitting between two slabs of bread or in a roll is the stuff of dreams.’
  ‘Between slabs of bread the crispness was tolerable.’
  ‘My brother went for the burger option, an impressively thick slab of meat accompanied by chunky, tasty chips.’
  ‘The accompanying mushrooms and salad were the perfect complement to the huge slab of meat.’
  ‘Huge slabs of raw meat were roasting slowly within the scorching flames.’
  ‘Slabs of beef like that wouldn't even get us publicity.’
  ‘A tender, gently cooked slab of pork is lightly crusted in nuts and herbs.’
  ‘Perhaps - unlike you - she declined that great big slab of delicious chocolate cake.’
  ‘There is something utterly indulgent, delicious and satisfying about a slab of chocolate cake.’
  ‘We enjoyed it with a slab of delicious chocolate cake.’
  ‘The well-used copper utensils, heavy slab of salmon and a lemon almost suspended at the table edge each play their own unostentatious part in this scene.’
  ‘She placed the cake on the table and watched the heat rise from the dark slab of deliciousness.’
  ‘The female lead had the sizzle and smolder of a cold slab of butter, too.’
  piece, block, hunk, chunk, lump
  View synonyms
2. 1.2Climbing A large, smooth, steep body of rock.
  ‘Start at the lowest rocks and climb the slabs above until stopped by a smooth bulge.’
  ‘A small lip guarded the final corner, which lead to a very smooth slab.’
  ‘Jake climbed up onto the slab of rock again and sat there with his legs crossed, staring down at me.’
  ‘I quickly hauled myself up and hiked to a bolted belay on the higher slab.’
  ‘Great marble slabs clawed their way out of the earth, gigantic and marvellous, revelling in their beauty.’
3. 1.3An outer piece of timber sawn from a log.
  ‘There was raw chicken on a driftwood slab for this farewell meal too.’
  ‘This is where we met them, crawling out of timber slab houses.’
  ‘Now we were before the great hall itself, and I looked up at timber walls made of slabs of oak four times my height.’
  ‘Vermont researcher Bernd Heinrich once watched a wild raven trying to carve out a piece of the action from a huge slab of suet.’
  ‘She swung the large slab of mahogany open to rest her eyes upon Marcus.’
  ‘She couldn't see through them, because they had been boarded up on one side with a massive slab of mahogany.’
  ‘James bobbed up first, treading water and grasping for a sizable slab of lumber.’
  ‘On slabs with waterproof finishes, problems start to develop when the relative humidity climbs above 87%.’
  ‘The entrance doors are huge wooden slabs, engraved in sign language by Durban craftspeople, depicting the 27 themes of the Bill of Rights.’
  ‘He threw the last slab of wood on Mr. Garvey's buggy.’
  ‘On their shoulders, they tote a 100-pound slab of wood.’
  ‘A sound much like knocking on a slab of wood reached my ears.’
  ‘The doors yawned open in front of them, the heavy, wooden slabs teasing her with memories of the hell that lay inside.’
  ‘Plastic bags and clothes lay beside the washing slabs, seemingly abandoned.’
4. 1.4A table used for laying a body on in a morgue.
  ‘Some churches are as warm and inviting as a mortuary slab.’
  ‘She begins to experiment, creating casts of mortuary slabs as well as mundane household objects.’
  ‘Whiteread cast them from two mortuary slabs which she had bought from a salvage yard in Hackney.’
  ‘We know who is going to be in the back of the ambulance, or indeed on the slab in our mortuaries.’
  ‘Many bones then languish in climate-controlled storage, on steel slabs like mortuaries, waiting once again.’
  ‘All lines of analysis run through, from, and back to the body on a slab.’
  ‘He approached the body lying on the slab in the middle of the room and pulled back the sheet.’
  ‘Slowly, holding her breath, feeling her stomach turn with bleak expectations, she walked across the room to the operating slab.’
  ‘The great doors swung open, and there upon an embalming slab lay her battered body.’
  ‘He turns on the light and walks to the body of the old man laying on the slab.’
  ‘Looking up into the powerful overhead lights and feeling the cold slab under me, I knew I had it coming.’

transitive verbslabs, slabbing, slabbed

[with object]

Remove slabs from (a log or tree) to prepare it for sawing into planks.
‘he slabbed the log on the two other remaining sides to make a rectangular timber’
- ‘The company has developed and supplies a unique slabbing system.’