ENGLISH
REFERENCE

tablet

n. · v.
US //ˈtæbɫət// UK //tˈæblət// tablet
  1. 1 medicine (n.)
    A2 Elementary Medicine

    a small, solid piece of medicine that you swallow.

    a small, solid dose of a drug or medication, typically circular or ovoid in shape.

    Example

    The doctor told him to take one tablet with water every morning.

    Example

    The pharmacist explained that the tablet should be swallowed whole rather than crushed to ensure the slow release of the active ingredient.
  2. 2 computer (n.)
    A2 Elementary Computing

    a thin, portable computer that you control by touching the screen.

    a mobile computer with a touchscreen interface, typically larger than a smartphone but smaller than a laptop.

    Example

    She uses her tablet to read books and watch movies on the plane.

    Example

    The school provided each student with a tablet to facilitate digital note-taking and access to interactive textbooks during the semester.
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  1. 3 stone slab (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a flat piece of stone or clay used in the past for writing.

    a flat slab of stone, clay, or wood, especially one bearing an inscription or used for writing in antiquity.

    Example

    The museum has an ancient stone tablet with laws written on it.

    Example

    Archaeologists discovered a clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform script, providing new insights into the trade agreements of the ancient city-state.
  2. 4 pad of paper (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate American English

    a collection of sheets of paper joined together at the top.

    a number of sheets of writing paper fastened together at one edge.

    Example

    He grabbed a tablet of paper to write down the shopping list.

    Example

    She kept a tablet of lined paper on her nightstand to record her thoughts immediately upon waking.
  3. 5 confectionery (n.)
    C1 Advanced British English Dialect Cooking

    a hard, sweet snack made from sugar, butter, and condensed milk.

    a traditional Scottish confection with a grainy texture, primarily composed of sugar, butter, and condensed milk.

    Example

    My grandmother always makes homemade tablet for us at Christmas.

    Example

    While similar to fudge, Scottish tablet is boiled to a higher temperature, resulting in a characteristically brittle and grainy consistency.
  4. 6 to make into pills (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Formal Technical Technical

    to press a powder or medicine into the shape of a small pill.

    to process a substance, typically a pharmaceutical, into the form of tablets.

    Example

    The machine can tablet thousands of doses of medicine every hour.

    Example

    The raw chemical compound is granulated and dried before it is sent to the high-speed press to be tableted for commercial distribution.
Origin

From Middle English tablet, from Old French tablete (Modern French tablette), diminutive of table (“table”).

Word family
  • Nountab
  • Nountablet

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