A Slab Is Thick, Flat and Usually Heavy
A slab is a broad flat thick piece of material. The word's origin is unknown.
A slab is a broad, flat, thick piece of stone, concrete, wood or other material. Its defining quality is thickness: a sheet is thin, a plate is flat and rigid, a board is long, but a slab is heavy and blunt, which is why the word suits concrete floors, stone tombs and chocolate alike. The word appears in Middle English with no traceable ancestor. In geology, a slab is the sheet of tectonic plate descending at a subduction zone.
- A thick flat piece. *A stone slab.*
- A concrete floor. *A concrete slab.*
- A large portion. *A slab of cake.*
- A subducting plate. *A slab.*
- Unknown origin. *Middle English.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | slab | A slab. |
| Plural | slabs | Slabs. |
| Verb | slab | Slabbed. |
| Related | slate | A slate. |
| Origin | unknown | Middle English. |
- They laid a concrete slab.Building.
- A slab of stone.Material.
- The slab descends at the trench.Geology.
Flat things by shape
- Sheet — thin and flexible
- Plate — flat and rigid, usually metal
- Board — long, flat and comparatively thin
- Slab — thick, heavy and blunt
- Panel — a flat section within a frame
Middle English, of unknown origin, recorded from the 1300s.
What makes something a slab rather than a sheet?
Thickness. A sheet is thin and flexible; a slab is thick, heavy and blunt.
What is a slab in geology?
The sheet of tectonic plate descending into the mantle at a subduction zone.