slab

C2 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /slæb/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like slob /æ/ vs /ɑ/

Freq #15190

Meanings

1

noun
A large, flat, thick piece of solid material such as stone, concrete, or wood.

The patio was made from heavy stone slabs laid in a neat grid.
2

noun
A flat concrete base poured as the foundation for a building.

Next week the builders will pour the slab that the garage will sit on.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms slabs

Derived forms backslabdoorslabfondleslabhelislabintraslabslab-serifslab-sidedslab-trackslabberslabbyslablikeslabness

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

horizontal slab
a thick flat piece of solid material positioned level rather than upright

Adjective + noun

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.

sclabbe Middle English sleipr Old Norse *slaipaz Proto-Germanic *(s)leyb- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# slab

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /slæb/
**Frequency rank:** 15190

## Meanings
1. A large, flat, thick piece of solid material such as stone, concrete, or wood.
2. A flat concrete base poured as the foundation for a building.

## Examples
- The patio was made from heavy stone slabs laid in a neat grid.
- Next week the builders will pour the slab that the garage will sit on.

## Derived Forms
- backslab
- doorslab
- fondleslab
- helislab
- intraslab
- slab-serif
- slab-sided
- slab-track
- slabber
- slabby
- slablike
- slabness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: sclabbe
- Root: sleipr
- Root: *slaipaz
- Root: *(s)leyb-

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Slab is 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. Important recorded forms include sclabbe (Middle English), sleipr (Old Norse), *slaipaz (Proto-Germanic), and *(s)leyb- (Proto-Indo-European). Current senses include a large, flat, thick piece of solid material such as stone, concrete, or wood and a flat concrete base poured as the foundation for a building. The wider family includes derived forms such as backslab, doorslab, fondleslab, helislab, and intraslab.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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