to cover or coat thickly with a slab-like substance, or to apply slabs of material to something.
From be- (prefix) + slab (from Middle Dutch or Scandinavian origin, referring to a thick, flat piece). The prefix intensifies the action of applying or covering with slabs.
Slab is actually a pretty mysterious word—its exact origin is uncertain, but it might come from Scandinavian languages and originally described a piece of stone that broke off unevenly, unlike a more precisely cut block.
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