label — ONAD · Shobdo

label /ˈlābəl, ˈleɪbəl

▸ noun

1 a small piece of paper, fabric, plastic, or similar material attached to an object and giving information about it:

the alcohol content is clearly stated on the label

price labels.

▪ a piece of fabric sewn inside a garment and bearing the brand name, size, or instructions for care:

a garment with the label “Laura Ashley”.

▪ the piece of paper in the center of a record giving the artist and title.

▪ a company that produces recorded music:

independent labels.

▪ the name or trademark of a fashion company:

she plans to launch her own designer clothes label.

2 a classifying phrase or name applied to a person or thing, especially one that is inaccurate or restrictive:

my reluctance to stick a label on myself politically.

▪ (in a dictionary entry) a word or words used to specify the subject area, register, or geographical origin of the word being defined:

the italic part-of-speech label follows the pronunciation.

▪ Computing a string of characters used to refer to a particular instruction in a program.

▪ Biology & Chemistry a radioactive isotope, fluorescent dye, or enzyme used to make something identifiable for study:

radioactive labels.

3 Heraldry a narrow horizontal strip, typically with three downward projections, that is superimposed on a coat of arms by an eldest son during the life of his father.

4 Architecture another term for dripstone.

▸ verb

(labels, labeling, labeled; British labels, labelling, labelled)

[with object]

1 attach a label to (something):

she labeled the parcels neatly, writing the addresses in capital letters.

2 assign to a category, especially inaccurately or restrictively:

[with object and complement] the critics labeled him a loser

children were labeled as bullies.

– DERIVATIVES
labeler

– ORIGIN Middle English (denoting a narrow strip): from Old French, ‘ribbon’, probably of Germanic origin and related to lap1.