slab

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A large, flat piece of solid material; a solid object that is large and flat.

   There were no windows in the inn. They were not required, since the interstices between the slabs suffered the wind, the rain, and the light of day to penetrate simultaneously.

2. 2
   noun

   A carton containing 24 cans (chiefly of beer).

   The Australians murder a few slabs of beer and the New Zealanders murder a few vowels.

3. 3
   noun

   A very large wave.

   After being towed into a massive slab, Dorian dropped down the face and caught a rail, putting him in a near-impossible situation.

4. 4
   noun

   Part of a tectonic plate that is being, or has been, subducted.

   Being driven by the gravitational force, the subducting Pacific slab continues to sink down to the boundary between the upper and lower mantle […]

5. 5
   noun

   A poured-concrete foundation for a building.

   Next week they'll pour the slab that the shed will sit on.

6. 6
   noun

   Any of the several portions or tiers in a tax rate plan.

   Near-synonym: tax bracket

7. 7
   noun

   A large, luxury pre-1980 General Motors vehicle, particularly a Buick, Oldsmobile, or Cadillac.

   Video screens have also become a standard part of slab interiors.

8. 8
   verb

   To destroy (a structure) so completely as to leave only the foundation slab visible.

   Multiple homes were slabbed by the monster tornado.

Etymology

From Middle English sclabbe, slabbe, of uncertain origin; possibly from *slap, related to dialectal slappel (“portion, piece”), along with slape (“slippery”), sleip (“smooth piece of timber”), borrowed through Old Norse sleipr from Proto-Germanic *slaipaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leyb-. See also Norwegian sleip (“slippery”) and Icelandic sleipur.