Meaning & use
computer lab
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A room in a school, college, or library where people use computers for study or training.
Grammar: Countable, so use a/an or a plural: we booked a computer lab; the computer labs are closed.
Patterns
- in a computer lab
- use a computer lab
- a computer lab session
We have our statistics class in the computer lab on Tuesdays.
The school opened a new computer lab with thirty laptops.
She stayed in the computer lab until midnight to finish her essay.
nouncountable
A business that rents computers and internet access to customers by the hour.
Grammar: Same countable pattern: an internet cafe and a computer lab are similar businesses.
Patterns
- an internet computer lab
- go to a computer lab
Before smartphones, many travelers checked their email at a computer lab near the station.
The computer lab downtown charges five dollars an hour.
Word forms
| plural | computer labs |
|---|
Common combinations
- in the computer lab
- The printer only works in the computer lab.
- a computer lab session
- Attendance at the computer lab session is required.
- book a computer lab
- You need to book a computer lab for the exam.
- computer lab assistant
- A computer lab assistant helped me install the software.
Synonyms and how they differ
- IT suite
- Chiefly British; it means the same kind of room but sounds more institutional.
- computer room
- A broader term that can also mean a room holding a mainframe or servers, not a teaching space.
Word family
- lab noun
- Short informal form of laboratory or computer lab.
- laboratory noun
- A room for scientific work; 'lab' is the short form.
Commonly confused: computer lab or computer science lab?
computer lab vs computer science lab
This can mean a research laboratory for computing, not a room for general student use.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'computer lab' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A computer lab is a room with computers, so it fits a place where students work. Option A treats it as a personal device, C uses it as a verb, and D uses it as an adjective.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “computer lab”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.