tabnab

English

Etymology

Nautical slang of obscure origin. Attested from the 20th century. Compare nab and possibly table.

Noun

tabnab (plural tabnabs)

1. (slang, British, Navy) A small item of food offered at break times, normally the morning break.
   • 1928, Malcolm Lowry, “The Cook In The Gallery”, in The Collected Poetry of Malcolm Lowry, UBC Press, published 1992, page 39:

     He comes outside when weather's fine / To hang his singlets on the line, / And then returns - he needs no bell - / The scouse, or Sunday's duff to share; / The stokers tabnabs need his care; / The sea sounds far away in there, / Ssssssssh, like the hush in a conch-shell.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “tabnab”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.
• Michael Quinion (November 7, 2009) “Tabnabs”, in World Wide Words.