1A large, thick, flat piece of stone, concrete, or wood, typically rectangular.

1. 1.1A large, thick slice or piece of cake, bread, chocolate, etc.
   ‘ a slab of bread and cheese’
   More example sentences

   • ‘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.’
   Synonyms

   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.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘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.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘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.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘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.’

Remove slabs from (a log or tree) to prepare it for sawing into planks.