PB
Abbreviation with 5 meanings
| Stands for | Lead |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 5 |
| Categories | Science & Engineering, Sports, Units & Measurements, Arts & Entertainment, Medical |
| Also written | Pb |
PB has five meanings. The most common are Lead (chemical element) and Personal best (other sports); it can also stand for Petabyte, Paperback and Phenobarbital.
Meanings of PB at a glance
| # | PB stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lead | Science & Engineering › Chemical Element |
| 2 | Personal best | Sports › Other Sports |
| 3 | Petabyte | Units & Measurements › Data Unit |
| 4 | Paperback | Arts & Entertainment › Publishing and Book |
| 5 | Phenobarbital | Medical › Drug |
1. Lead (Pb)
Science & Engineering · Chemical Element Abbreviations
Lead (atomic number 82) is a dense, soft, gray metal whose largest use is in the lead-acid batteries that start most cars. It shields against X-rays and gamma rays and was once common in paint, plumbing and gasoline. No safe blood lead level is known for children, so those uses have been phased out in most countries.
Example: The kitchen tap sample showed Pb at 22 ppb, above the 15 ppb action level.
The symbol Pb comes from Latin plumbum, which also gives "plumber" (Roman water pipes were lead) and the plumb bob used to find vertical. Leaded gasoline, introduced in the 1920s, was finally phased out worldwide when Algeria stopped selling it in 2021. Stable lead isotopes are the end products of the uranium and thorium decay chains, the basis of uranium-lead dating.
2. Personal best
Sports · Other Sports Abbreviations · also used in texting
Athlete's fastest time, longest distance or highest score ever in an event, the main measure of individual progress in running, swimming, athletics and weightlifting. More common in British and Commonwealth English.
Example: She ran a PB of 2:58 at the London Marathon, finally breaking three hours.
Americans usually say PR (personal record) for the same idea. Results listings mark lifetime bests as PB and best marks of the current season as SB. Gamers and speedrunners use PB for their fastest completion time.
3. Petabyte
Units & Measurements · Data Unit Abbreviations
One quadrillion bytes (10^15), or a thousand terabytes, the scale of enterprise storage, scientific archives and large data platforms. Big companies, research labs and streaming services manage many petabytes.
Example: The genomics lab now stores 12 PB of sequencing data across two sites.
The binary equivalent is the pebibyte (PiB, 2^50 bytes), about 12.6 percent larger. Experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider generate tens of petabytes of data a year. Data-warehouse services often price queries per terabyte scanned and storage per PB per month.
4. Paperback
Arts & Entertainment · Publishing and Book Abbreviations
Book bound in flexible card covers, cheaper and lighter than a hardcover. Listings often show PB alongside HC, e-book and audio formats.
Example: PB edition: $18.99; e-book: $9.99.
Paperback editions include trade and mass-market formats. "Paperback original" means a book published first in paperback, with no hardcover. In running and athletics PB means personal best.
5. Phenobarbital
Medical · Drug Abbreviations
Barbiturate antiseizure drug, the first-line treatment for neonatal seizures and an option for refractory status epilepticus and alcohol withdrawal. It has a very long half-life, often several days in adults.
Example: Neonatal seizures: PB 20 mg/kg IV load; level in 2 hours.
Introduced for epilepsy in 1912, phenobarbital is the oldest antiseizure drug still in wide use and is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines because it is cheap and effective. It is a Schedule IV controlled substance in the US. Sedation and cognitive effects limit its use in adults.
Related abbreviations
More chemical element abbreviations
- Og – Oganesson
- Os – Osmium
- P – Phosphorus
- Pa – Protactinium
- Pd – Palladium
- Pm – Promethium
- Po – Polonium
- Pr – Praseodymium
See all 118 chemical element abbreviations →
More other sports abbreviations
- OB – Out of bounds
- ODI – One Day International
- OR – Olympic record
- P4P – Pound-for-pound
- ret. – Retired
- RNC – Rear-naked choke
- RR – Run rate
- RWC – Rugby World Cup
See all 63 other sports abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.