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PlainSpell

tab

/tæb/noun, verb

tab is spelled T-A-B: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tab means “A small flap or strip of material attached to or inserted into something, for holding, manipulation, identification, opening etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tab is tabs.

How many letters and syllables are in tab?

Letters3: T-A-B
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing9.1 times per million words; the 7,553rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is tab?

Tab appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce tab?

  • /tæb/
  • [tʰæb̥]

Tab has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-tab.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with tab?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as tab.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: bat, tba.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of tab

  • tabs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • tabbing participle, present
  • tabbed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tab mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A small flap or strip of material attached to or inserted into something, for holding, manipulation, identification, opening etc.

    insert tab A into slot B

  2. 2

    slangAn ear.

  3. 3

    A navigational widget, resembling a physical tab, for switching between documents or sets of controls.

  4. 4

    The page or form (for example, on a web browser or file manager) associated with such a navigational widget.

    How many tabs are open on your browser right now?

  5. 5

    slangA fast march or run with full kit.

  6. 6

    CanadaUSinformalA restaurant bill.

    to pick up the tab

  7. 7

    CanadaUSinformalCredit account, e.g., in a shop or bar; slate.

    to start a tab

  8. 8

    The cost or bill for anything.

  9. 9

    A space character that extends to the next aligned column, traditionally used for tabulation.

  10. 10

    A cigarette.

    Lend us a tab!

  11. 11

    A form of musical notation indicating fingering rather than the pitch of notes, commonly used for stringed instruments.

  12. 12

    A student of Cambridge University.

  13. 13

    colloquialA tabloid newspaper.

  14. 14

    informalA tablet, especially one containing illicit drugs.

  15. 15

    informalA tableau curtain.

verb

  1. 1

    To affix with tabs; to label.

  2. 2

    To use the Tab key on a computer to advance the cursor or move the input focus, or on a typewriter to advance the carriage.

noun

as Tab
  1. 1

    A key on a computer keyboard that typically inserts a tab or moves the input focus.

  2. 2

    Alternative letter-case form of tab (“student at Cambridge”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tab in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchonglet, languette (small flap or strip of material attached to…), note, addition, douloureuse (restaurant bill), ardoise (credit in a shop or bar)
GermanReiter, Karteikartenreiter (small flap or strip of material attached to…), Registerkarte, Tab (navigational widget in a GUI)
Portugueselingueta (small flap or strip of material attached to…), guia, aba, separador (navigational widget in a GUI), tabulação (a space character that extends to the next…)
Spanishlengüeta (small flap or strip of material attached to…), cuenta (restaurant bill), pestaña (navigational widget in a GUI)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does tab come from?

First attested 1607, of uncertain origin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after tab