tabloid

1. (archaic) A small, compressed portion of a chemical, drug, food substance, etc.; a pill, a tablet.Examples: "One of the compartments was found to contain some forty compressed tabloids, which on analysis proved to be potassium bromide."; "Messrs. Burroughs and Wellcome have for some years past made a specialty of supplying various developers and other photographic preparations in "tabloid" form. A large number of tabloids are contained in a very small bottle, and only require crushing and dissolving in the stated quantity of water to produce a large volume of solution. […] A word of warning with respect to these convenient preparations may not be amiss: it is that in these days, when so many medicines are made up in tabloid form, great care is quite necessary to avoid any chance of mistakes by the mixing together of medicine tabloids and photographic tabloids, which may contain harmful chemicals, and might be inadvertently swallowed by mistake for the medicines."; "'It's those tabloids!' Conroy stamped his foot feebly as he blew his nose. 'They’ve knocked me out. I used to be fit once. Oh, I've tried exercise and everything. But—if one sits down for a minute when it's due—even at four in the morning—it runs up behind one.'"archaic

2. (figurative) A compact or compressed version of something; especially something having a popular or sensational nature.figurativelyhistorical

3. (figurative) A compact or compressed version of something; especially something having a popular or sensational nature.Examples: "This boat Mayfay has been admirable as a tabloid cruiser and while Sure Mike is about her same size, Sure Mike is far more nicely modeled; she will not have Mayfay's 17-mile-an-hour homespun plainness."figuratively

4. (figurative) A compact or compressed version of something; especially something having a popular or sensational nature.Examples: "[…] Lyle Stuart, […] is known—notorious would be the proper word—for his publishing and writing in the fields of obscenity and extreme leftism: he puts out a sort of tabloid called "The Independent"."; "A public school in Moperville, where the local newspaper is sold in neighboring towns with all the regard of a tabloid. / We've got a reputation to protect! We can only report on confirmed monsters, like mega hogs, or Bigfoot!"; "Train operating companies get plenty of column inches in the tabloids, usually for negative reasons. Happily, Southeastern is worthy of praise for having made The Sun for something positive."Synonyms: rag, red top, scandal sheet, tabfiguratively

5. (figurative) A compact or compressed version of something; especially something having a popular or sensational nature.CanadaUSfiguratively