tab

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

tab, n. [Etymol. uncertain.].

•  The flap or latchet of a shoe fastened with a string or a buckle.  [1913 Webster]
•  A tag. See Tag, 2.  [1913 Webster]
•  A loop for pulling or lifting something.  [1913 Webster]
•  A border of lace or other material, worn on the inner front edge of ladies' bonnets.  [1913 Webster]
•  A loose pendent part of a lady's garment; esp., one of a series of pendent squares forming an edge or border.  [1913 Webster]
•  a small projecting piece of a file folder, file card, or similar sheet used in a filing system, on which a notation is written to permit convenient search for the folder, card, etc.  [PJC]
•  a bill or check for some purchase, as in a restaurant; as, the salesman will pick up the tab.  [PJC]
•  a key on a typewriter or computer keyboard which advances the carriage or curser to the next (preset) tab position; -- used especially to type or print text or numbers in columns.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tab, abbr.
1 typhoid-paratyphoid A and B vaccine.
2 Austral. Totalizator Agency Board.

tab, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a small flap or strip of material attached for grasping, fastening, or hanging up, or for identification. b a similar object as part of a garment etc.
2 US colloq. a bill or price (picked up the tab).
3 Brit. Mil. a marking on the collar distinguishing a staff officer.
4 a a stage-curtain. b a loop for suspending this.
--v.tr. (tabbed, tabbing) provide with a tab or tabs.

Idiom

keep tabs (or a tab) on colloq.
1 keep account of.
2 have under observation or in check.

tab, n.
1 = TABULATOR 2.
2 = TABULATOR 3.

Etymology

abbr.

THESAURUS

tab

a reckoning of, account, account of, act drop, afterpart, afterpiece, amount, appoint, asbestos, asbestos board, assign, backdrop, batten, bilge, bill, bill of account, bill of lading, blain, bleb, blister, blob, border, boss, bow, brand, bubble, bulb, bulge, bulla, bump, bunch, burl, button, cahot, charge, check, check of, chine, cloth, clump, condyle, convex, cost, coulisse, count of, counterweight, curtain, curtain board, cyclorama, damage, decor, designate, dowel, drop, drop curtain, dun, eagle eye, ear, earmark, expenditure, expense, eye, figure, fire curtain, flag, flange, flap, flat, flipper, gall, gnarl, hallmark, handle, hanging, hill, hump, hunch, invoice, itemized bill, jog, joggle, knob, knot, knur, knurl, label, lappet, lip, loop, lump, manifest, mole, mountain, name, nevus, nominate, nub, nubbin, nubble, ordain, ordinate, papilloma, peg, price, price tag, queue, rag, rate, reckoning, rib, ridge, ring, scene, scenery, score, screen, scrutiny, seal, select, shoulder, side scene, spine, stage screw, stamp, statement, sticker, strap, stud, style, surveillance, tableau, tabs of, tag, tail, tailpiece, tally of, tariff, teaser, ticket, tormentor, track of, trail, trailer, train, transformation, transformation scene, tubercle, tubercule, verruca, vesicle, wake, wale, wart, watch, welt, wing, wingcut, woodcut