▪ I. Lab, n.3 Brit. Pol.
(læb)
[Written abbrev. of labour n. 2 c.]
= labour n. 2 c. (Cf. Lib-Lab a.)
| 1892 Daily News 4 July 4/1 L means Liberal; D.L. Dissentient Liberal; C, Conservative; Lab., Labour. 1923 Daily Tel. 21 Nov. 6/3 Maj. C. R. Attlee..(Lab.). 1947 Whitaker's Almanack 333/2 Parliamentary Constituencies... Oxford City..Hon. Quintin Hogg, C. 14,314; F. Pakenham, Lab. 11,451. 1988 Daily Tel. 2 Feb. 11/1 Mr Tony Benn (Lab, Chesterfield) also failed to get an emergency debate. |
▪ II. Lab, n.4 colloq. (orig. N. Amer.).
(læb)
Also lab.
[Abbrev. of Labrador n.]
A Labrador dog.
| 1950 Dog World June 73/3 (Advt.), Five choice bitch puppies by..Canada's great sire of field-trial winning Labs. 1954 W. H. Ivens in F. Griscom Labrador Retriever 44 The shining beauty of the coat is one of the vanities of the Lab owner. 1963 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Mar. 2/1 They were just about as nervous of the Labs as the hunters were of the mean-looking animals tied to the stakes in the Indian camp. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 16 June 12-c/7 (Advt.), 4 puppies... ½ Golden Retriever/½ Black Lab. 1986 R. Rendell Live Flesh x. 141 She wasn't a puppy when I had her... They don't usually live past eleven, those labs. |