lab

¹ American  

[lab] / læb /

noun

1. laboratory.

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Lab ² American  

[lab] / læb /

noun

1. Informal. Labrador retriever.

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LAB ³ American  

Or lab

abbreviation

Slang.

1. life’s a bitch (used to acknowledge, often dismissively, a difficult or unfair circumstance).

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lab. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. labor.

2. laboratory.

3. laborer.

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Lab. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Laborite.

2. Labrador.

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Lab. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. politics Labour

2. Labrador

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lab ² British  

/ læb /

noun

1. short for laboratory

2. short for Labrador retriever

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lab. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. laboratory

2. labour

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Etymology

Origin of lab¹

By shortening

Origin of Lab²

By shortening

Origin of LAB³

From its use in digital communications

Explanation

A lab is a room or building where science experiments, tests, and research are done. Most high schools have science labs for biology and chemistry classes. Lab is shorthand for laboratory, with its Medieval Latin root laboratorium, "a place for labor or work," from the Latin laborare, "to work." Many scientists and researchers go to work each day in a lab (often wearing a "lab coat," a white smock that protects their clothes). Some labs are equipped for studying the way plants grow and reproduce, while in others scientists study the brainwaves of human subjects or the traits of a virus. If you are a scientist, chances are you hang out in a lab.

Example Sentences

The push to expand Anthropic’s capacity comes as the AI lab touts its “unprecedented consumer growth.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 20, 2026

Tien Kung Ultra, which was developed by Beijing-based lab X-Humanoid and won last year’s race, more than halved its finish time this year, clocking in at one hour and 15 minutes without any human intervention.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

And it was in the lab, and it was on the way.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

For more than two centuries, scientists tried and failed to grow dolomite in the lab under conditions thought to match how it forms in nature.

From Science Daily • Apr. 20, 2026

My science teacher is wearing a lab coat with her name sewn on it.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

Related Words

• workshop