"Alt-Tab" meaning in English

See Alt-Tab in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: Alt-Tabs [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} Alt-Tab (countable and uncountable, plural Alt-Tabs)
  1. (computing, graphical user interface) A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active. Tags: countable, uncountable
  2. (computing, graphical user interface) A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active.
    (informal) An equivalent keyboard shortcut that switches between windows or applications, such as Windows-Tab, or Command-Tab on macOS.
    Tags: countable, informal, uncountable

Verb

Forms: Alt-Tabs [present, singular, third-person], Alt-Tabbing [participle, present], Alt-Tabbed [participle, past], Alt-Tabbed [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb}} Alt-Tab (third-person singular simple present Alt-Tabs, present participle Alt-Tabbing, simple past and past participle Alt-Tabbed)
  1. (computing, intransitive) To switch between windows or applications by pressing Alt-Tab (or equivalent). Tags: intransitive
    Sense id: en-Alt-Tab-en-verb-NKBebHQp Categories (other): English links with manual fragments, Computing, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 28 28 44 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 23 24 53 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 21 25 54 Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Inflected forms

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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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      "expansion": "Alt-Tab (countable and uncountable, plural Alt-Tabs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
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        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "name": "Computing",
          "orig": "en:Computing",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Graphical user interface",
          "orig": "en:Graphical user interface",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active."
      ],
      "id": "en-Alt-Tab-en-noun-hksi1krP",
      "links": [
        [
          "computing",
          "computing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "graphical user interface",
          "graphical user interface"
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        [
          "Windows",
          "Windows"
        ],
        [
          "application",
          "application"
        ],
        [
          "window",
          "window"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(computing, graphical user interface) A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
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        "engineering",
        "graphical-user-interface",
        "mathematics",
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        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
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        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active.",
        "An equivalent keyboard shortcut that switches between windows or applications, such as Windows-Tab, or Command-Tab on macOS."
      ],
      "id": "en-Alt-Tab-en-noun-2dsEGHAp",
      "links": [
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        [
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          "graphical user interface"
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        [
          "Windows",
          "Windows"
        ],
        [
          "application",
          "application"
        ],
        [
          "window",
          "window"
        ],
        [
          "Windows",
          "Windows key"
        ],
        [
          "macOS",
          "macOS"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(computing, graphical user interface) A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active.",
        "(informal) An equivalent keyboard shortcut that switches between windows or applications, such as Windows-Tab, or Command-Tab on macOS."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "informal",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "graphical-user-interface",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Alt-Tab"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabbing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabbed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabbed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
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      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English links with manual fragments",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
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          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Computing",
          "orig": "en:Computing",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 28 44",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "23 24 53",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 25 54",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              5,
              15
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1996, PC Magazine, volume 15, numbers 13–16, page 87:",
          "text": "If I Alt-Tabbed through all other open programs, eventually returning to the screen from which the cursor disappeared, it would reappear and everything seemed fine.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              44,
              47
            ],
            [
              50,
              58
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2014, B. T. O’Brien, chapter 25, in The Kong Meng Legacy, page 170:",
          "text": "‘Oh, good,’ said Professor Wright brightly, Alt'''-tabbing to her calendar and skimming the appointment.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              153,
              163
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2024, Prakhar Gupta, Mudit Yadav, chapter 14, in Don't Shut Up: How to Talk So the World Listens:",
          "text": "At times when I was deep in the middle of a calculation, that sudden shudder of my chair and his shrill voice pulled me out of my semi-trance state as I alt-tabbed to hide any confidential data and turned my chair around to entertain his novel question.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To switch between windows or applications by pressing Alt-Tab (or equivalent)."
      ],
      "id": "en-Alt-Tab-en-verb-NKBebHQp",
      "links": [
        [
          "computing",
          "computing#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(computing, intransitive) To switch between windows or applications by pressing Alt-Tab (or equivalent)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
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  "word": "Alt-Tab"
}
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    "English nouns",
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    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
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      "form": "Alt-Tabs",
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  "head_templates": [
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        "(computing, graphical user interface) A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active."
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      "topics": [
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        "A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active.",
        "An equivalent keyboard shortcut that switches between windows or applications, such as Windows-Tab, or Command-Tab on macOS."
      ],
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          "Windows",
          "Windows key"
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        "(computing, graphical user interface) A keyboard shortcut in Windows that switches between application-level windows, sorted by most recently active.",
        "(informal) An equivalent keyboard shortcut that switches between windows or applications, such as Windows-Tab, or Command-Tab on macOS."
      ],
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        "countable",
        "informal",
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}

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    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabs",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabbing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabbed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "Alt-Tabbed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
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        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English links with manual fragments",
        "English terms with quotations",
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      ],
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        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              5,
              15
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1996, PC Magazine, volume 15, numbers 13–16, page 87:",
          "text": "If I Alt-Tabbed through all other open programs, eventually returning to the screen from which the cursor disappeared, it would reappear and everything seemed fine.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              44,
              47
            ],
            [
              50,
              58
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2014, B. T. O’Brien, chapter 25, in The Kong Meng Legacy, page 170:",
          "text": "‘Oh, good,’ said Professor Wright brightly, Alt'''-tabbing to her calendar and skimming the appointment.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              153,
              163
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2024, Prakhar Gupta, Mudit Yadav, chapter 14, in Don't Shut Up: How to Talk So the World Listens:",
          "text": "At times when I was deep in the middle of a calculation, that sudden shudder of my chair and his shrill voice pulled me out of my semi-trance state as I alt-tabbed to hide any confidential data and turned my chair around to entertain his novel question.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To switch between windows or applications by pressing Alt-Tab (or equivalent)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "computing",
          "computing#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(computing, intransitive) To switch between windows or applications by pressing Alt-Tab (or equivalent)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Alt-Tab"
}

Download raw JSONL data for Alt-Tab meaning in English (4.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-19 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (d1270d2 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.