▪ I. tabbing, vbl. n.1
(ˈtæbɪŋ)
[f. tab n.5 or tabulator n. + -ing1.]
The action or effect of using the tabulator key on a typewriter or other keyboard.
| 1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics iv. 63 Whereas tabbing on a paper tape typewriter must be recorded, tabbing on a keypunch has the effect of putting the next perforation in a different column. 1982 Byte July 284/2 The typewriter's automated functions..include word and phrase underlining, tabbing, centering titles, and aligning columns of decimal numbers. 1984 PC 18 Sept. 227/1 Specify the right parameters and you end up with perfectly aligned columnar material. It is that simple. No tabbing. No margin setting. No waiting. |
▪ II. tabbing, vbl. n.2 U.K. Mil. slang.
(ˈtæbɪŋ)
[Of uncertain origin; perh. related to tab n.1]
Esp. in the Parachute Regiment: = yomping vbl. n. Also tab v.2 intr. = yomp v. a; tab n.6, a forced march in this order.
| 1982 Listener 8 July 2/3 It became a world of ‘yomping’ and ‘tabbing’ (walking). Ibid. 3/1 That night he set out on a ‘tab’ for Goose Green. 1982 Sunday Express Mag. 14 Nov. 43/2 ‘Yomping’—Marine slang for a long march under heavy kit. In Para language it is ‘tabbing’. 1983 McGowan & Hands Don't Cry for Me iv. 81 Paras referred to a forced march at speed in fighting order as ‘tabbing’. The Marines instead went ‘yomping’. 1985 Observer 26 May 14/4 They have their own argot: they bimble, yomp, or tab across the peat. |