slabn.1
/slab/, U.S. /slæb/ 1. in extended use.1882 Harper's Mag. July 32/2 From one of our exchanges..we chip off the following slab of scientific knowledge.1896 ‘Iota’ Quaker Grandmother 171 He was a pampered slab of propriety from his youth up.1951 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 4) Add. 1172/2 Slab..a long paragraph.1958 Listener 14 Aug. 249/3 The conventional slabs of Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky.a1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 623 When I started, I used to dictate slabs without any real preparation.
a. A flat, broad, and comparatively thick piece or mass of anything solid. In early use of metal, later also of stone and wood, and finally of any substance capable of having this form. For some technical uses see quots. 1674, 1825, 1825.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being broad in relation to thickness > [noun] > slab or tablet
tilea725
tableeOE
breda1000
slabc1290
slay-bred14..
tablet?1440
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 315 Ase ȝif a man nome ane sclabbe [Harl. MS. slab] of Ire, þat glowynde were a-fuyre.
1354–5 in F. R. Chapman Sacrist Rolls Ely (1907) II. 164 In M de grossis spykinge, 7s 6d. In viij slabbes empt. 1s 8d.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3313 Grete slabbes of styl & yre to þe walles þo wern y-slente.
1556 R. Record Castle of Knowl. Admon. sig. avii The Grounde of Artes who hathe well tredd, And noted well the slyppery slabbes.
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng (1725) 198 One only simple Circle of about twelve Slabbs of Stone.
1674 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 124 When they have a sufficient quantity of the melted metal, they cast it into oblong, square pieces in a mould made of moore-stone. The lesser pieces they call slabs, the greater blocks.
1771 R. Cumberland West Indian iii. iv A large cargo of..sugars, rum-puncheons, mahogany slabs.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) II. 452 An arch enclosed on every side with large slabs of stone.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 637 The large piece [of glass] with the knot, still retains the name of table; the smaller piece is technically called a slab.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. l. 76 A little slab of plum cake.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xiv. 141 The walrus..was cut into flat slabs half an inch thick.
1879 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) I. x. 316 Our slabs of gun-cotton also emit waves of different densities in different parts.
1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 839/1 The rubber is glossy, of a bright pink colour and mottled appearance, and occurs in the form either of small balls pressed together or of irregular masses called ‘slabs or ‘loaf’ rubber.
1903 Imperial Inst. Techn. Rep. 153 The ‘slabs’ of blackish rubber alone being worth 1s. 11d. per pound.
1964 Amer. Speech 39 274 Slab, a solid piece of rubber used as an ingredient to be melted and mixed with solvents to form rubber cements or to be milled and stripped off.
b. spec. in Metallurgy, such a piece of metal produced from an ingot for subsequent rolling into sheet or plate.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > metal in specific state or form > [noun] > cast metal > in form of pigs > pig, ingot, or bar > prepared for rolling
slab1863
strip1876
1863 Chambers's Encycl. V. at Iron Puddled balls which have undergone shingling are called slabs or blooms.
1910 H. P. Tiemann Iron & Steel 282 Billets, blooms, small slabs, and sheet bars are produced on a mill called a billet mill, blooming mill, or cogging mill.
1931 Economist 21 Mar. 608/1 The biggest decline occurring in billets, blooms and slabs.
1968 D. R. Cliffe Techn. Metall. iv. 70 Ingots are broken down into blooms or slabs, as a hot working process, in a cogging mill.
1972 Times 18 Sept. 21/6 Production of slab zinc was 35,000 tons.
c. = slab-cake n. at Compounds 3 below.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > rectangular cake
slab-cake1902
slab1908
1908 J. Kirkland Mod. Baker III. 462 Rice Slab at 6d. per lb... Lemon Madeira at 3d. per lb... Fruit Slab at 3d. per lb.
1948 Good Housek. Cookery Bk. 580 Cut the Genoese slab into 2-inch squares.
1974 W. Foley Child in Forest i. iii. 39 Plain slab was a delicate luxury and this was no plain slab!
d. Architecture. A rectangular block of pre-cast, reinforced concrete used in building, esp. in multi-storey constructions.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > concrete > [noun] > brick or block of
brick1427
breeze-block1923
slab1927
hollow block1964
patio block1969
1927 Archit. Rec. Dec. 452/2 A number of experimental houses have been built with ‘textile-block slab construction’... The system consists of concrete block slabs about two or three inches thick of unit sizes which can be handled, laid on end with interlocking grooves, reinforced horizontally and vertically by means of steel rods.
1930 Amer. Architect Apr. 32/2 A type of floor and ceiling construction light in weight, quickly erected..is being used... The system consists of two types of slabs, one for floors and another for ceilings, used in conjunction with the ordinary supporting members of steel construction.
1938 Archit. Rev. 83 223 (caption) One of the two ‘porte-cochères’, in reinforced concrete column and slab construction.
1951 Archit. Rev. 110 92 The café terrace, which disappears beneath its lightly supported slab roof to become a two-level café-bar.
1973 D. Francis Slay-ride x. 122 A modern square-built glass and slab affair a mile out of the city centre.
e. Architecture. A high-rise block of impersonal aspect.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > types of building generally > [noun] > high building
towerc897
steeplec1000
Babel1554
pile1573
Babel tower1588
castle1642
minar1665
skyscraper1883
scraper1928
prang1929
slab1952
high-rise1962
multi-storey1969
1933 L. Mumford in New Yorker 23 Dec. 29/2 What does one find? First, a gigantic slab of a building.]
1952 Archit. Rev. 111 119/1 As is well known, the term ‘slab’ was coined in the 1930's in connection with publicity on the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center.
1958 Listener 20 Nov. 827/1 A point block of government offices is now going up at Wellington..and other high-rise slabs for offices and flats.
1969 J. Burchard & A. Bush-Brown Archit. Amer. iv. 353 The early skyscrapers were massive blocks... The new characteristic form became the slab, a term applied to the buildings erected at the Rockefeller Center beginning about 1930. The slab form had appeared briefly in the early history of the skyscraper, notably in the Monadnock Building... It remained for the architects of Rockefeller Center..to modernize the slab, to make it thinner in relation to its height, to simplify it and to treat it with characteristic but underemphasized setbacks.
2.
a. A rough outside plank of timber cut from a log or a tree-trunk preparatory to squaring the main portion, or sawing it into planks.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > board or plank > types of
quarter-board1355
deal1400
fir-deala1450
planchettec1450
crust1486
deal-board1568
slab1573
scabbard1635
scale1683
scale-board1711
planchet1730
shinbin1791
rack deal1808
rack1835
shinlog1842
slabwood1844
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 13v Sawne slab let lye, for stable & stye.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 20 Saue slab of thy tymber, for stable and stye.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 25 [He must watch] the Sawyers at their Pit, that they waste no more then needs in Slabs.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (1681) 332 Slab, the out~side sappy Planck or Board sawn off from the sides of Timber.
1833 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Cottage Archit. §549 A marine character may be given by shells;..that of a Russian log-house by the outside slabs of trees.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 345/1 The waste of the log, consisting of the ‘slabs’ and edgings.
b. Australian and New Zealand. A coarse, axe-hewn plank, two or three inches in thickness.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > board or plank > thick, rough-hewn
slob1667
slab1829
1829 H. Widowson Present State Van Diemen's Land 86 Logs, or as they are more commonly called, slabs, for erecting barns or small buildings are erected in the same manner.
1845 [see Compounds 2a]. 1861 L. A. Meredith Over the Straits iv. 130 A bare, rough, barn-like edifice, built of slabs.
1886 T. Heney Fortunate Days 71 Built was the house of slabs, long and thick and rudely planed by the hatchet.
1905 W. Baucke Where White Man Treads 259 It is a low whare of split slabs, adzed over, and sunk into the earth as closely as the inequalities of adze-jointing will permit.
1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Apr. 375/2 Floors [in very early milking sheds] were of wooden slabs, bricks, stones, or even clay.
1957 P. White Voss vi. 154 She was standing in front of a house, or hut, of bleached slabs, that melted into the live trunks of the surrounding trees.
3.
a. A flat piece of wood or stone used as a table, counter, etc.; a small table hinged to the wall in the passage or hall of a house.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > table > [noun] > table in entrance hall or passage
slab1739
hall-table1869
1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. F. Dedekind Grobianus 16 Throw Chairs about; the Slab in pieces beat.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 257 Four..wine-glasses..were on the slab in the passage.
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. p. xxxiii The most luxurious slab of a fishmonger's shop.
b. A flat piece of stone, etc., on which colours are ground, or printing-ink distributed.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > parts of printers or presses > [noun] > ink-block, -slab, or -table
ink-block1688
ink-table1825
slab1859
ink-slab1890
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > paints > preparation of colours > stone for grinding on
marble1671
slab1859
1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 199 The Slab and Muller, for grinding pigments, figures in a painter's paraphernalia far less frequently now than formerly.
1882 J. Southward Pract. Printing 383 Ink Slabs... Metal being injurious to many kinds of coloured inks, slabs of various kinds are used.
c. A porcelain palette divided into compartments, usually with sloping surfaces, for mixing and holding water-colours.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > palette
palette1622
colour palette1803
slab1888
slant1897
1888 G. Field & E. A. Davidson Gram. Colouring (ed. 4) 158 Mix the colour in three degrees of depth, in as many different compartments of the slab.
d. A flat piece of stone, etc., immediately in front of a fireplace; a stone hearth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > hearth or fireplace > hearthstone
hearthstonea1325
fire hearth1440
firestone1613
hearth-pace1621
foot pace1652
slab1876
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 466/2 The slab is that part of the floor of a room which is immediately before the fireplace, and along the extent of its front. In basement rooms, this slab is supported by a brick wall brought up from the ground; but in upper rooms the slab is supported by a flat half brick arch called a brick trimmer.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iv. xix. 153 Little had been left beside the framework of the house; but in one corner there was a stone slab laid down by way of hearth, and an old rusty iron basket to contain the fire.
1963 B. Goodson Pract. Guide to House Repairs iv. 50 The tiled hearth slab is bedded in about ½ in. of mortar on the existing hearth.
1977 J. S. Curl Eng. Archit. 154/1 Slab..the hearth of a fireplace.
e. The stone on which a corpse is laid in a mortuary. Also transferred and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > preparation or treatment of corpse > [noun] > mortuary > mortuary for identification > slab
slab1903
1903 A. H. Lewis Boss viii. 101 I've seen a bloke take a slab in th' morgue for less. It was Benny the Bite; he gets a knife between his slats.
1924 G. C. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 417 Slab... Undertaker's table.
1930 H. C. Bailey Mr. Fortune Explains 111 On a slab in the mortuary the woman's body lay and the divisional surgeon turned from it to nod at Reggie.
1932 E. Wallace When Gangs came to London ii. 26 My best friend is a forty-five..and the day he puts you on the slab I'm going to put diamonds all round his muzzle.
1977 ‘C. Aird’ Parting Breath x. 127 Pathologists had hobbyhorses, too, and obesity was..Dr. Dabbe's. He was always having a go at Sergeant Gelven..about his weight. ‘See you soon,’ was his favourite form of greeting to the portly detective, ‘on my slab.’
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. In sense ‘constructed of slabs’, as slab-cottage, slab-fence, slab whare [whare n.1] , etc.; (sense 2b) slab-and-bark house, slab-and-bark hut; slab-and-shingle hut.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials in specific shape or form > [adjective] > relating to or made of slabs
slabbed1818
slab1826
slabby1853
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > hut or hovel > [noun] > types of
lonquhardc1480
hothouse1643
ajoupa1666
penthouse1683
pandal?1692
bark-hut1744
log-tent1748
log cabin1770
bush-hut1775
log-hut1778
yurt1780
isba1784
beach hut1806
whare1807
bough-house1811
pondok1815
grass hut1818
hartebeest house1818
leaf hut1818
gunyah1820
grass house1823
slab-and-bark hut1826
slab-and-shingle hut1826
slab whare1826
rondavel1829
bush-house1835
skerm1835
jacal1838
toldo1839
log-shanty1847
wurley1847
maloca1853
palm hut1853
whare1853
hutmenta1857
bush-shanty1857
benab1860
pondokkie1862
bothan1863
lanaia1869
hogan1872
tenta1873
beehive-hut1884
leaf shelter1886
Oklahoma1889
goondie1890
cabana1898
troolie hut1899
tukul1901
fale1902
banda1908
kya1909
hut1913
obi1913
Nissen hut1917
Nissen1919
basha1921
tourist cabin1928
bunkie1935
wanigan1937
Quonset hut1942
chickee1943
iron lung1943
Quonset1943
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house of specific material or construction
thatch-house1521
slate house1554
thack housec1600
frame house1627
log-house1662
straw1665
thatch1693
tin-house1798
fog house1799
leaf house1811
rock house1818
black house1819
blockhouse1821
white house1824
slab-and-bark house1826
brown house1845
brush house1854
soddy1877
hurdle-housea1879
bottle house1913
stucco1922
prefab1942
Portal house1944
Airey1945
yali1962
1826 H. W. Longfellow Let. 17 Aug. in S. Longfellow Life H. W. Longfellow (1891) I. vii. 86 No slab-fences; no well-poles.
1846 J. L. Stokes Discov. Austral. I. ix. 266 The house..was what is called a Slab Hut, formed of rough boards and thatched with grass.
1862 R. Henning Let. 18 Oct. (1966) 111 It is not much to move a slab house; all the woodwork takes down and puts up again.
1869 J. Townend Reminisc. Austral. 155 We passed through Studley Park, with here and there a slab house or tent.
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 97 A very small slab cottage.
1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career i. 5 Our comfortable, wide-veranda'ed..slab house..was ever full to overflowing.
1905 W. Baucke Where White Man Treads 293 He..who lives in a slab whare, and on a fare which his dainty collie sniffs at and rejects.
1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. i. 12 According to the formula neatly printed in official journals, the building of a slab hut is absurdly easy.
1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Jan. 20 A good three-roomed slab-and-shingle hut that had been vacated by a white family.
1945 Salt 12 Feb. 4/1 His earliest years were spent in a slab-and-bark hut.
1949 F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream 100 A slab whare in a narrow valley.
1959 J. Wright Generations of Men 53 A slab-and-bark house in lonely fever-ridden country.
1969 F. Sargeson Joy of Worm i. 7 It then became pleasant to look forward to hot food, the shelter of the farmer's slab hut, and talk with the man himself.
b. In sense ‘having the form of a slab or slabs’, as slab-board, slab-deal, slab-slate, etc.; (sense 2a) slabwood.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > board or plank > types of
quarter-board1355
deal1400
fir-deala1450
planchettec1450
crust1486
deal-board1568
slab1573
scabbard1635
scale1683
scale-board1711
planchet1730
shinbin1791
rack deal1808
rack1835
shinlog1842
slabwood1844
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 133 The slab-slices..may of course vary, but all are free of the smallest portion of waste.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2197/2 The waney portions of the slab-boards are removed by the Edger.
1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 412 Slab-wood answering all purposes.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §157. 54 When the slab deals or outsides have been cut away.
1889 H. C. Seddon Builder's Work (ed. 2) 231 The work upon slab slates, or slate-mason's work.
1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 2 Oct. 10/1 (advt.) Cordwood, Slabwood, Blockwood, Dry Kindling.
1962 M. E. Murie Two in Far North i. ii. 20 Off at one side, a lean-to bedroom built of slab wood.
1976 Newmarket Jrnl. 16 Dec. (advt.) Hardwood and softwood, slabwood and off-cuts for sale.
c. Miscellaneous, as slab-car, slab-pit, slab-saw.
ΚΠ
1879 Lumberman's Gaz. 19 Dec. Getting the slabs and clippings into the slab-pit.
1879 Lumberman's Gaz. 19 Dec. The refuse will be run to the slab-saw and cut up, and from there it will fall into the slab-car.
C2.
a. With past participles, as slab-bridged (figurative), slab-built, slab-roofed, slab-walled. Cf. slab-sided adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > [adjective]
slipperc1000
hinderc1200
slidderya1250
covert1340
unwrast1393
slyc1440
slippery1555
fetching1570
shifting1581
as slippery as an eel1601
roundabout1608
corner-creeping1610
shuffling1616
prevaricatory1645
prevaricative1657
sliverly1674
whifflinga1680
sneak-pasty1681
slid1719
evasive1725
shauchling1755
shifty1837
slab-bridged1845
sneaky1861
pussy-footed1893
sidewinding1902
slithery1902
pussyfooting1926
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > specific parts built or constructed > [adjective] > of the nature of a wall > types of wall > having specific type of wall
cob-walled1820
slab-walled1845
1845 Voy. Port Philip 52 His slab-built hut, with roof of bark.
1859 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 642/1 Anyone who has driven over a mountain-stream by one of those bridges made of slabs will feel the force of a term we once heard applied to a parson so shaky in character that no dependence could be placed on him,—‘A slab-bridged kind o' feller!’
1861 G. H. Kingsley in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 119 I suspect that he confounded those mysterious slab-built uags with the real hour-glass tower.
1867 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. (new ed.) p. xlviii The picturesque force of the epithet slab-bridged applied to a fellow of shaky character.
1896 B. M. Croker Village Tales 99 The little slab-roofed dwelling.
1930 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs 1st Ser. viii. 213 The slab-walled, earthen-floored hut.
b. With agent-nouns, as slab-burner, slab-grinder.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2197/2 Slab-grinder, a machine used for grinding up the refuse slabs in a..saw mill.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 345/2 The ‘slab-burner’ or ‘hell’, a large circular brick furnace..erected conveniently near the saw-mill.
c. slab-like adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > condition of being broad in relation to thickness > [adjective] > having form of tablet or slab
tableda1382
tabular1656
tabulate1826
tabuliform1848
slab-like1899
1899 W. James Talks to Teachers 214 The even forehead, the slab-like cheek, the codfish eye, may be less interesting for the moment.
1970 R. J. Small Study of Landforms iv. 122 On the high valley slopes above Glen Rosa great slab-like outcrops of granite, tilted at between 30° and 60°, are developed where glacial erosion and frost weathering have exposed dilatation joints.
C3. Special combinations.
slab avalanche n. an avalanche in which a sheet of snow breaks cleanly away along a fracture line.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > snow > [noun] > rush of loose or melting snow > avalanche
valanche1766
avalanche1771
lavange1806
ice bolt1815
lauwine1818
vollenge1830
snow slide1841
slab avalanche1953
1920 A. Lunn in G. W. Young Mountain Craft ix. 431 The wind-slab is the most treacherous of all avalanches.
1936 G. Seligman Snow Struct. vii. 160 If this ‘slab’ of snow has formed on a steep slope it will shatter into countless blocks of hardened snow, and these, sliding downhill, will precipitate the most insidious of all avalanches—the wind-slab avalanche.]
1953 Avalanche Handbk. (U.S. Dept. Agric. Forest Service) iv. 34 (caption) Major slab-avalanche. Depth of fracture: 10 feet.
1978 C. Fraser Avalanches & Snow Safety v. 79 Criterion 1 is the form of break which started the avalanche and this leads to the broad division of all avalanches into two types: ‘loose-snow avalanches’..and ‘slab avalanches’.
slab bacon n. unsliced bacon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > pork > [noun] > bacon > types of
chimney-bacon1566
rust1641
whey-bacona1722
Wiltshire1794
slab bacon1932
1932 Evening Sun (Baltimore) 7 Nov. 12/7 (advt.) Boneless Slab Bacon lb 13½c.
1975 L. Lobel & S. Lobel All about Meat vii. 115 Take the trouble to hunt for unsliced slab bacon.
slab-cake n. (a) cake baked in a large rectangular tin (cf. sense 1c above).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > rectangular cake
slab-cake1902
slab1908
1902 J. T. Law Grocer's Man. (ed. 2) 854/1 Slab Cakes, or Cut Cakes (sold by the pound).—The introduction of these ready-made cakes, as an extension of the birthday, wedding, and Christmas cake system, appears to be displacing or supplanting much of the old-fashioned retail business in currants, raisins,..spices, etc.
1935 Economist 22 June 1439/1 Scribbans and Company, the well known makers of slab cake, find their activities in fields where steady progress..is the natural order of things.
1974 W. Foley Child in Forest i. v. 57 A slice of bright slab cake.
slab coil n. Wireless (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1930 B.B.C. Year Bk. 451/2 Slab coil, an inductance coil wound in a flat shape having the disadvantage of high self-capacity.
slab inductance n. Wireless (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1921 Wireless World 9 163 The tuning is done by slab inductances, which can be easily fitted to the Marconi panel... By using different slabs a range of wave-lengths from 600 to 24,000 metres is obtained.
Draft additions 1993
Mountaineering. A large, smooth body of rock lying at a (usually sharp) angle to the horizontal.
ΚΠ
1904 J. N. Collie in Alpine Jrnl. 22 10 [The ridge] was impossible, being made up entirely of bare slabs and perpendicular pitches.
1955 S. Styles Introd. Mountaineering xi. 127 The term thank-god hold, which has become part of British climbing jargon, originated on the third ascent of the slab on Route II, Lliwedd East Buttress.
1965 A. Blackshaw Mountaineering vi. 173 As well as slabs providing Moderate or Difficult climbing (e.g. Idwal Slabs) there are some slabs providing very hard and serious climbing.
1986 Climber May 19/2 Climb directly up iced slabs to below corner.
Draft additions 1993
transferred in Statistics. Any of the bands in a system of fiscal or other stratification. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > planning scheme or system > other aspects of system
slab1963
1963 Times 22 Feb. 5/3 When estate duty is reduced it should be done by graduating the rates on a ‘slab’ basis as in surtax. By this method the top rate of duty applicable to an estate would be levied only on its top ‘slab’ and the lower rates..on the lower ‘slabs’.
1988 Hindu 25 Feb. 7/1 The increase per ticket in second class mail express is proposed to be Rs. 2 at the lowest slab, progressively rising to a maximum, for distances beyond 750 km of Rs. 15.00.
Draft additions September 2021
slab serif n. and adj. Typography (a) n. a thick square or rectangular serif; (also) any of various typefaces, fonts, etc., distinguished by such serifs, typically of generally uniform thickness and having a characteristically bold and dense appearance; (b) adj. designating a typeface, font, etc., of this sort.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > style of type > [noun] > type face or font > others
script1779
Baskerville1802
Egyptian type (letters, figures)1855
hand lettering1864
Garamond1868
runic1869
outline1878
Bodoni type1880
hairline letter1888
bold-face1889
Cheltenham1910
in-line1923
slab serif1924
Bembo1930
Times New Roman1932
Times1957
manifolderc1961
Times Roman1963
society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > style of type > [adjective] > others
modern1764
script1782
Caxtonian1811
Porsonian1813
antique type?1817
Aldine1837
Scotch1847
old-face1859
Times1860
old-faced1863
Fell type1883
Fournier1902
monotype1910
Goudy1933
monoline1962
slab serif1970
monospaced1972
1924 Inland Printer May 241/2 The Venetian roman is a square sort of letter with slab serifs.
1970 Jrnl. Typogr. Res. 4 219 Roman type is related to historical forms, but sans-serif and slab-serif typefaces are excluded.
2011 G. Ambrose & P. Harris Fund. of Typogr. (ed. 2) iii. 72/3 Clarendon is..a slab serif but it has small bracketing arcs.
2013 Observer (Nexis) 15 Sept. (Review Agenda section) 6 Rockwell is an instantly recognisable slab serif font where the serifs are similar in weight to the horizontal strokes of the letters.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
slabn.2
/slab/, U.S. /slæb/ 1. A muddy place; a puddle. Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > lake > small body or puddle > [noun]
plashlOE
pulkc1300
pludc1325
puddlec1390
sumpa1450
flush1487
dub?a1513
plashet1575
pool1596
slab1610
pudge1671
flodge1696
pant1807
pothole1867
push1886
splashet1896
the world > the earth > land > landscape > marsh, bog, or swamp > [noun] > wet place, mire, or slough
sloughc900
mooreOE
letch1138
mire1219
sougha1300
dew1377
slop?a1400
flashc1440
slothc1440
slonk1488
slot?a1500
rilling1610
slab1610
water-gall1657
slunkc1700
slack1719
mudhole1721
bog-hole1788
spew1794
wetness1805
stabble1821
slob1836
sludge1839
soak1839
mudbath1856
squire-trap1859
loblolly1865
glue-pot1892
swelter1894
poaching1920
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 532 A fairer towne,..than a man would looke to finde in this tract among such slabbes and water-plashes.
1756 Philos. Trans. 1755 (Royal Soc.) 49 392 The bottom of the harbour, which is all a slab, was much altered, the mud being washed from some places, and deposited in others.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II Slab, a puddle, a wet place. North.
1895 W. Rye Gloss. Words E. Anglia Slab, a puddle or collection of surface drainage.
2. Wet and slimy matter; ooze, sludge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > mud > [noun]
laira1340
fanc1340
mudc1400
slutchc1400
slikec1425
slipc1440
slobber1440
sorec1440
slot?a1500
glar?a1513
slubber1570
slab1622
lute1694
lutulence1727
sletch1743
sleek1774
slakec1800
1622–3 in H. J. F. Swayne Churchwardens' Accts. Sarum (1896) 175 A Barrowe full of Lyme Slabb, 8d.
1671 St. Foine Improved 4 The Slabb and Mud which remains after the Water is drawn off the Ground.
1867 R. W. Emerson May-day & Other Pieces 12 And upward pries and perforates Through the cold slab a thousand gates.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
slabn.3
/slab/, U.S. /slæb/ Nautical.
(See quots.)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > slack part > hanging down
slab1882
1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 12 Slab, any slack part of a sail hanging down.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 604/2 Slab of a sail, the slack part which hangs down after the leech-lines are hauled up.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
slabn.4
/slab/, U.S. /slæb/, New Zealand English /slɛb/ Angling (originally New Zealand).
A weak or spent game fish, esp. a diseased trout; a kelt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > trout (unspecified and miscellaneous) > salmo trutta (sea trout) > in bad condition after spawning
keltc1340
slab1952
1952 A. G. Mitchell in Chambers's Shorter Eng. Dict. (Austral. ed.) Suppl. Slab, a poorly conditioned trout.
1968 Times 22 Oct. 3/2 Brown trout fishermen in the South Island of New Zealand are familiar with individual fish which show very little fight once they have been hooked. It now turns out that these fish, known locally as slabs, are suffering from a heart disease.
1986 Coarse Fishing June 12/3 Despite a couple of big slabs priming right in front of us we could not get a touch.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
slabadj.1
/slab/, U.S. /slæb/ Semi-solid; viscid. In modern use entirely as an echo of Shakespeare, frequently figurative, and usually accompanied by thick.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > [adjective]
thickc888
toughc1000
cleavingc1350
gluey1382
gluish1382
gleiming1387
gummya1398
clammy1398
gleimy1398
viscosec1400
viscousc1400
emplastic?a1425
plastery?c1425
stiffc1430
clamc1440
engleimous?c1475
rawky1509
rich1535
clammish1543
limy1552
strong1560
glutinous1576
cloggy1587
emplastical1590
viscuous1603
plasterish1610
slaba1616
bound1635
viscid1635
lentous1646
spiscious1655
melleous1656
salivarious1656
glutining1658
syrupical1659
glairy1662
gummous1669
gummose1678
mellaginous1681
melligineous1684
pargety1684
sticky1688
sizy1691
dauby1697
syrupy1707
treacly?1734
glaireous1755
flabbyc1780
spissid1782
stodgy1823
waxy1835
teery1848
treacle-like1871
viscoid1877
slauming1904
gooey1906
gloopy1929
gunky1937
gungy1962
yucky1975
(a)
(b)1841 J. H. Sealy Porcelain Tower 154 Where the air is slab and hath got no sky.1849 W. H. Ainsworth Lancashire Witches i. vi The slab, salt waves of the Dead Sea.1868 E. Edwards Life Sir W. Ralegh I. xvii. 351 The embroilment would seem to be now slab enough.a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 32 Make the Grewell thicke, and slab . View more context for this quotation
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xvi. 206 Whatever the chance contributions that fell into the slow cauldron of their talk, they made the gruel thick and slab with dollars.
1870 J. H. Friswell Mod. Men of Lett. vii. 126 Various adventures and thoughts, poured out thick and slab.
1894 W. Raleigh Eng. Novel (1903) viii. 234 His [‘Monk’ Lewis's] taste was rather for horrors, thick and slab.
Derivatives
ˈslably adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > [adverb]
glutinously1620
viscidly1821
clammily1844
viscously1878
slably1881
tackily1903
1881 Academy 7 May 334 All these materials are mixed thickly and slably by the aid of a very clumsy style.
ˈslabness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > viscosity > [noun]
thicknessc1000
gleiminessa1398
gleimingness1398
glutinosityc1400
viscositya1425
threadinessc1425
gleimousnessc1440
clamminess1528
clammishness1528
yolkiness1528
toughness1574
viscousness1594
gumminess1600
gluishness1608
glueyness1611
viscidity1611
gummosity1651
tenaciousness1658
viscuousness1658
glutinousnessa1661
plasteriness1660
ropishness1662
snivelliness1662
ropiness1663
gummousness1666
stickiness1689
clam1694
viscidness1710
glairiness1866
treacliness1884
slabness1892
yuckiness1982
1892 Sat. Rev. 13 Aug. 206/2 If these ingredients are not thick and slab enough for readers, they must, indeed, be fanatics of thickness and slabness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† slabadj.2
Obsolete. rare.
(See quot. c1682.)
ΚΠ
c1682 J. Collins Salt & Fishery 13 With Scotch Salt, he cured the whole Lading of Cod, having none that were weak or slab salted.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
† slabv.1
Obsolete. rare.
intransitive. ? To wallow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > move irregularly or be agitated [verb (intransitive)] > roll or tumble about > of persons or animals > wallow
wallowc900
swolderc1200
slabc1315
rolla1398
muddlea1450
welter1530
swetter1536
topple1542
swelt1575
swelter1595
sludder1874
c1315 Shoreham vii. 442 Hou yst þet hy ine helle slabbeþ, And þare-tou none grace nabbeþ To repente?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
slabv.2
Now dialect or Obsolete.
To eat or drink in a hasty or untidy manner:
a. transitive with up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (transitive)] > eat coarsely
slab?1553
slabber1574
slubber1640
slobber1726
slab1729
slorp1802
?1553 Respublica (1952) iii. vi. 30 Suche hongrye doggs will slabbe vp sluttishe puddinges.
1787 W. Taylor Scots Poems 173 Lang may ye blow the reamin ale,..While I slab up my barefit kail.
b. intransitive with at.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (transitive)] > eat coarsely
slab?1553
slabber1574
slubber1640
slobber1726
slab1729
slorp1802
1729 in W. Macfarlane Geneal. Coll. (1900) (Sc. Hist. Soc.) I. 111 The Laird of Grant..was for Diversion's Sake brought to see the Orphans slabbing at their Trough.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
slabv.3
/slab/, U.S. /slæb/ 1.
a. transitive. To dress (timber) by removing the outside slabs; to clear of bark-wood.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > build or construct with wood [verb (transitive)] > prepare, dress, or square timber
framec1330
square1412
postc1520
timber out1628
slab1703
side1754
to bring forward1823
match1833
underhew1847
to run up1863
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 237 They will cut none smaller, neither will they Slab any, unless they are paid for it by Measure.
1811 J. Parkins Young Man's Best Compan. 137 For cutting a piece of timber..and slabbing it, i.e. cutting off the outside pieces.
1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs ii. 234 A paling Board..being slabbed or feather-edged and dubbed on the sappy side.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2028/2 Sapping-machine, a circular saw for slabbing balks.
b. U.S. With off: ‘To throw aside as useless, like the outside piece of a log’ (Bartlett, 1859).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > non-use > refrain from using [verb (transitive)] > discard from use
to cast asidea1420
to throw aside1532
to put, set or lay by1535
to throw down1548
to throw by1582
to cast by1599
supersede1642
slab1835
to put aside1872
1835 D. Crockett Acct. Col. Crockett's Tour 212 You must take notice that I am slabb'd off from the election.
2. To convert into a slab or slabs.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > perform general or industrial manufacturing processes [verb (transitive)] > types of shaping process
worka1325
strike1485
sink1526
print1530
cut1600
to work out1600
strain1674
scribe1679
stamp1798
slab1868
squirt1881
tablet1891
extrude1913
fabricate1926
1868 B. J. Lossing Hudson (new ed.) 70 There are also several mills for slabbing the fine black marble of that locality.
1893 Advance (Chicago) 11 May A section of one thirty feet in diameter is to be slabbed, and the slabs..are to be set up to form a house.
3.
a. To lay or pave with slabs.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > paving and road-building > pave or build roads [verb (transitive)] > pave > pave with specific material
causeya1552
flag1615
causeway1744
metal1806
blind1812
macadamize1823
slab1832
flint1834
pebble1835
asphalt1872
concrete1875
cube1887
cobble1888
block1891
wood-block1908
tarmacadam1910
tarviate1926
tarmac1966
1832 Lincoln Herald 7 Feb. 4/4 The expense of slabbing the sides of the Market-place.
1874 J. A. Symonds Sketches Italy & Greece (1898) I. ii. 46 The parapet is broad, and slabbed with red Verona marble.
1891 S. Baring-Gould In Troubadour-land xvi. 230 The roof is slabbed with stone, so as to form a terrace.
b. To support (the sides of a shaft) with slabs. In quot. 1871 absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (intransitive)] > other specific activities in mining
trench1786
rob1811
tamp1819
ride1854
slab1871
1871 J. J. Simpson Recit. 24 So dig away, drive away, slab and bail.
4. To stick or plaster in slabs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > attach or affix [verb (transitive)] > adhere to > cause to adhere > in slabs
slab1886
1886 M. F. Tupper My Life as Author 21 They had slabbed on the underside of the tables masses of bread and butter supposed to have been eaten-out.
5. transitive. Of a path, climber, etc.: to traverse (the side of a slope) horizontally or at a gentle angle. U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct (one's course, steps, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > traverse a slope transversely
slab1889
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > lead to [verb (transitive)] > go across a slope
slant1850
slab1889
1889 J. S. Farmer Americanisms 492/2 To slab, to make roads round the sides of mountains.
1892 Outing Jan. 268/1 So we started blindly up the bank and into the forest, continuing for an hour and a half to ‘slab’ the mountain, as the backwoodsmen say.
1907 Guide Paths & Camps White Mountains (Appalachian Mountain Club) 62 The path now slabs the east side.
1916 Guide Paths & Camps White Mountains (ed. 2) (Appalachian Mountain Club) 265 The path..rises by easy zigzags slabbing the S.W. flank of Eagle Cliff.
1963 Appalachian Trailway News Sept. 43/2 We zigzagged and slabbed mountains, finally coming..down a beautiful grassy glade where stood Big Stamp Shelter.
1968 Appalachian Trailway News Sept. 43/2 Route slabs northwestern slope of ridge.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1c1290
n.21610
n.31882n.41952adj.1a1616
adj.2c1682v.1c1315v.2?1553v.31703