slack

¹

[ slak ]

adjective

1. not tight, taut, firm, or tense;

   a slack rope.

   Synonyms: relaxed

2. negligent; careless; remiss:

   slack proofreading.

   Synonyms: thoughtless, lazy, lax

3. slow, sluggish, or indolent:

   He is slack in answering letters.

   Synonyms: listless, tardy, dilatory

4. not active or busy; dull; not brisk:

   the slack season in an industry.

   Synonyms: quiet, idle

5. moving very slowly, as the tide, wind, or water.
6. Phonetics. weak; lax.
7. Nautical. easy ( def 15a ).

adverb

1. in a slack manner.

noun

1. a slack condition or part.
2. the part of a rope, sail, or the like, that hangs loose, without strain upon it.
3. a decrease in activity, as in business or work:

   a sudden slack in output.

   Synonyms: relaxation

4. a period of decreased activity.
5. Geography. a cessation in a strong flow, as of a current at its turn.
6. a depression between hills, in a hillside, or in the land surface.
7. Prosody. (in sprung rhythm) the unaccented syllable or syllables.
8. British Dialect. a morass; marshy ground; a hollow or dell with soft, wet ground at the bottom.

verb (used with object)

1. to be remiss in respect to (some matter, duty, right, etc.); leave undone; shirk:

   He slacked the most important part.

   Synonyms: neglect

2. to make or allow to become less active, vigorous, intense, etc.; relax (efforts, labor, speed, etc.); lessen; moderate (often followed by up ).

   Synonyms: slacken, reduce

3. to make loose, or less tense or taut, as a rope; loosen (often followed by off or out ).
4. to slake (lime).

verb (used without object)

1. to be remiss; shirk one's duty or part.

   Synonyms: malinger

2. to become less active, vigorous, rapid, etc. (often followed by up ):

   Business is slacking up.

3. to become less tense or taut, as a rope; to ease off.
4. to become slaked, as lime.

slack

²

[ slak ]

noun

1. the fine screenings of coal.

slack

¹

/ slæk /

adjective

1. not tight, tense, or taut
2. negligent or careless
3. (esp of water, etc) moving slowly
4. (of trade, etc) not busy
5. See lax
   phonetics another term for lax

adverb

1. in a slack manner

noun

1. a part of a rope, etc, that is slack

   take in the slack

2. a period of decreased activity
3. 1. a patch of water without current
   2. a slackening of a current
4. prosody (in sprung rhythm) the unstressed syllable or syllables

verb

1. to neglect (one's duty, etc)
2. often foll by off to loosen; to make slack
3. See slake
   chem a less common word for slake

slack

²

/ slæk /

noun

1. small pieces of coal with a high ash content

Derived Forms

• ˈslackly, adverb
• ˈslackness, noun

Other Words From

• slacking·ly adverb
• slackly adverb
• slackness noun
• un·slacked adjective
• un·slacking adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slack¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective slak(e), slakke, Old English slæc, sleac; cognate with Old Norse slakr, Old High German slach, Latin laxus lax

Origin of slack²

First recorded in 1200–50; of uncertain origin; compare Middle English sleck “mud, slush, stony soil,” Flemish slecke, Middle Dutch slacke, slecke, Dutch slak, Low German slak(ke), German Schlacke “dross (of metal)”

Word History and Origins

Origin of slack¹

Old English slæc, sleac; related to Old High German slah, Old Norse slākr bad, Latin laxus lax

Origin of slack²

C15: probably from Middle Low German slecke; related to Dutch slak, German Schlacke dross

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. take up the slack,
   1. to pull in or make taut a loose section of a rope, line, wire, etc.:

      Take up the slack before releasing the kite.

   2. to provide or compensate for something that is missing or incomplete:

      New sources of oil will take up the slack resulting from the embargo.

Example Sentences

Restrictions on overtime pay under DeJoy may have prevented full-time workers at some facilities from adding hours to pick up some of the slack.

From ProPublica

Where money and technology fail, though, it inevitably falls to government policies — and government subsidies — to pick up the slack.

From ProPublica

When the BLS lists workers by full- or part-time status, they also track whether that status is due to economic reasons — like a slowdown in that industry or a slack job market — or noneconomic reasons.

From FiveThirtyEight

Underlings gave Clark, who has worked at Amazon during almost all of his career, that moniker after he told them that early in his tenure he would hide in the shadows at warehouses seeking to catch lazy workers slacking off who he could fire.

From Fortune

With Gaspar’s low fundraising total, for instance, the conservative Lincoln Club that supports her might consider picking up the slack to help her stay competitive.

From Voice of San Diego

He knew I was a Chicago guy, and he cut me absolutely no slack.

From The Daily Beast

To the contrary: since the 2011 ouster of Gaddafi, the world has cut Libya a lot of slack.

From The Daily Beast

Answering a question from fellow Foxer Geraldo Rivera—does the right-leaning network cut President Obama enough slack?

From The Daily Beast

Other women can often be the worst at cutting any slack towards the love interest in a sex scandal.

From The Daily Beast

At the same time, I cut myself slack, because my creative reach went beyond my skill level.

From The Daily Beast

An amount of slack in the chain caused the balls to knock on passing this roller before entering the pump bottom.

From Project Gutenberg

I went into the dugout indescribably slack; hardly energy to struggle against the heat and the myriads of flies.

From Project Gutenberg

Lost Sister had fashioned a rude litter out of rawhide and two saplings, slack between the poles so the girl could not roll out.

From Project Gutenberg

His crew soon produced from the slack of their frocks pieces of plug, which they passed on board in exchange for our eggs.

From Project Gutenberg

At length I gave up the contest, led him with a slack rein, and pulled no longer.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• lackadaisical
• lax
• lethargic
• permissive
• sluggish
• stagnant