tab
tab1 / tab/ • n. 1. a small flap or strip of material attached to or projecting from something, used to hold or manipulate it, or for identification and information. ∎ a similar piece of material forming part of a garment: [as adj.] shirts with tab collars. ∎ a strip or ring of metal attached to the top of a canned drink and pulled to open the can.2. inf. a restaurant or bar bill.3. Aeron. a part of a control surface, typically hinged, that modifies the action or response of the surface.• v. (tabbed, tab·bing) [tr.] mark or identify with a projecting piece of material: he opened the book at a page tabbed by a cloth bookmark. ∎ fig. identify as being of a specified type or suitable for a specified position: he was tabbed by the president as the next Republican National Committee chairman.PHRASES: keep tabs (or a tab) on inf. monitor the activities or development of; keep under observation.pick up the tab inf. pay for something: my company will pick up the tab for all moving expenses.DERIVATIVES: tabbed adj.tab2 • n. a facility in a word-processing program, or a device on a typewriter, used for advancing to a sequence of set positions in tabular work: set tabs at 1.4 inches and 3.4 inches.• v. (tabbed , tab·bing ) 1. short for tabulate. 2. [intr.] activate the tab feature on a word processor or typewriter: the user can tab to the phrase and press Enter.tab3 • n. inf. a tablet containing a dose of a drug.tab4 • n. inf. a tabloid newspaper: she tries to cover up his pecadillos before they make the tabs' front pages.
tab
1. Short for (a) tabulate, i.e. to lay out data; (b) tabulation character, a control character used when laying out data to control the movement of a print or display mechanism. Most keyboards have a tab key, which may initiate the tabulation function or may be used for other control purposes.
2. A feature of many graphical interfaces where the user may select one of several optional screens by clicking on the tab. The term derives from card indexes where a small extension of the card allows easy identification of the required card.