Word Study
slack
CIDE DICTIONARY
slack, n. [Cf. Slag.].
Small coal; also, coal dust; culm. Raymond. [1913 Webster]
slack, n. [Icel. slakki a slope on a mountain edge.].
A valley, or small, shallow dell. Grose. [1913 Webster]
slack, a. [OE. slak, AS. sleac; akin to OS. slak, OHG. slah, Prov. G. schlack, Icel. slakr, Sw. slak; cf. Skr. s to let loose, to throw. Cf. Slake.].
- Lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended; as, a slack rope. [1913 Webster]
- Weak; not holding fast; as, a slack hand. Milton. [1913 Webster]
- Remiss; backward; not using due diligence or care; not earnest or eager; as, slack in duty or service. [1913 Webster]"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness." [1913 Webster]
- Not violent, rapid, or pressing; slow; moderate; easy; as, business is slack. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]"Cslack southwest, at midnight was becalmed." [1913 Webster]
Syn. -- Loose; relaxed; weak; remiss; backward; abated; diminished; inactive; slow; tardy; dull.
slack, adv.
Slackly; as, slack dried hops. [1913 Webster]
slack, n.
The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it; as, the slack of a rope or of a sail. [1913 Webster]
- To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather. [1913 Webster]
- To be remiss or backward; to be negligent. [1913 Webster]
- To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake; as, lime slacks. [1913 Webster]
- To abate; to become less violent. [1913 Webster]"Whence these raging fires
Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames." [1913 Webster] - To lose rapidity; to become more slow; as, a current of water slackens. [1913 Webster]
- To languish; to fail; to flag. [1913 Webster]
- To end; to cease; to desist; to slake. [1913 Webster]"That through your death your lineage should slack." [1913 Webster]"They will not of that firste purpose slack." [1913 Webster]
slack, v. t.
- To render slack; to make less tense or firm; as, to slack a rope; to slacken a bandage. Wycklif (Acts xxvii. 40) [1913 Webster]
- To neglect; to be remiss in. Shak. [1913 Webster]"Slack not the pressage." [1913 Webster]
- To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake; as, to slack lime. [1913 Webster]
- To cause to become less eager; to repress; to make slow or less rapid; to retard; as, to slacken pursuit; to slacken industry. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]"I should be grieved, young prince, to think my presence
Unbent your thoughts, and slackened 'em to arms." [1913 Webster]"In this business of growing rich, poor men should slack their pace." [1913 Webster]"With such delay
Well plased, they slack their course." [1913 Webster] - To cause to become less intense; to mitigate; to abate; to ease. [1913 Webster]"To respite, or deceive, or slack thy pain
Of this ill mansion." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
slack, adj., n., v., & adv.
--adj.
1 (of rope etc.) not taut.
2 inactive or sluggish.
3 negligent or remiss.
4 (of tide etc.) neither ebbing nor flowing.
5 (of trade or business or a market) with little happening.
6 loose.
7 Phonet. lax.
8 relaxed, languid.
--n.
1 the slack part of a rope (haul in the slack).
2 a slack time in trade etc.
3 colloq. a spell of inactivity or laziness.
4 (in pl.) full-length loosely-cut trousers for informal wear.
--v.
1 a tr. & intr. slacken. b tr. loosen (rope etc.).
2 intr. colloq. take a rest, be lazy.
3 tr. slake (lime).
--adv.
1 slackly.
2 slowly or insufficiently (dry slack; bake slack).
--adj.
1 (of rope etc.) not taut.
2 inactive or sluggish.
3 negligent or remiss.
4 (of tide etc.) neither ebbing nor flowing.
5 (of trade or business or a market) with little happening.
6 loose.
7 Phonet. lax.
8 relaxed, languid.
--n.
1 the slack part of a rope (haul in the slack).
2 a slack time in trade etc.
3 colloq. a spell of inactivity or laziness.
4 (in pl.) full-length loosely-cut trousers for informal wear.
--v.
1 a tr. & intr. slacken. b tr. loosen (rope etc.).
2 intr. colloq. take a rest, be lazy.
3 tr. slake (lime).
--adv.
1 slackly.
2 slowly or insufficiently (dry slack; bake slack).
Idiom
slack hand lack of full control in riding or governing. slack lime slaked lime. slack off
1 loosen.
2 lose or cause to lose vigour. slack rein = slack hand. slack suit US casual clothes of slacks and a jacket or shirt. slack up reduce the speed of a train etc. before stopping. slack water a time near the turn of the tide, esp. at low tide. take up the slack use up a surplus or make up a deficiency; avoid an undesirable lull.
1 loosen.
2 lose or cause to lose vigour. slack rein = slack hand. slack suit US casual clothes of slacks and a jacket or shirt. slack up reduce the speed of a train etc. before stopping. slack water a time near the turn of the tide, esp. at low tide. take up the slack use up a surplus or make up a deficiency; avoid an undesirable lull.
Derivative
slackly adv. slackness n.
slack, n. coal-dust or small pieces of coal.
Etymology
ME prob. f. LG or Du.
THESAURUS
slack
Laodicean, Micawberish, Olympian, Paphian, abandon, abate, abatement, abeyant, aloof, ambling, anemic, apathetic, asthenic, backward, bagging, baggy, bate, beat-up, bedraggled, behindhand, benumbed, blah, blase, bloodless, blow out, blowzy, bone-lazy, bones, cadging, careless, cataleptic, catatonic, cautious, chaff, chambering, chicken, chintzy, choke, circumspect, claudicant, coal dust, comatose, comb, coom, cowardly, crawling, creeping, creeping like snail, culm, culpably negligent, cut, dallying, damp, dangling, dead, deadwood, debilitated, decline, decrease, delay, delaying, deliberate, delinquent, derelict, desensitized, detached, diffuse, dilapidated, dilatory, dillydallying, diminish, diminution, dishwater, disinterested, disjoin, disperse, disregardful, do-nothing, dodge, dog it, doless, dopey, dormant, douse, down, downturn, drabbletailed, draff, draggled, draggletailed, dregs, dronish, drony, drooping, droopy, duck, duck duty, dull, dust, dwindling, ease, ease off, ease up, easy, easygoing, effete, ergophobic, etiolated, extinguish, faineant, faint, faintish, faltering, feeble, filings, flabby, flaccid, flagging, flapping, flat, floppy, foot-dragging, foul, free, frowzy, frumpish, frumpy, garbage, gash, gentle, get out of, give, goldbrick, gone, good-for-nothing, goof off, gradual, groggy, grubby, gutless, halting, hanging, heartless, heavy, hebetudinous, hobbling, hogwash, hopeless, husks, idle, imbecile, impotent, imprecise, in a stupor, in abeyance, in rags, in suspense, inactive, inactivity, inadvertent, inattentive, indifferent, indolent, inert, infirm, informal, insouciant, jump, lackadaisical, laggard, lagging, laissez-faire, languid, languorous, latent, lax, lazy, leaden, leave, leave loose ends, leave undone, leavings, lees, leisurely, lenient, lessening, let alone, let be, let dangle, let down, let go, let loose, let up, let up on, lethargic, lifeless, light, limber, limp, limping, lingering, listless, logy, loitering, loose, loose-moraled, loosen, looseness, lull, lumbering, lumpen, lustless, malinger, marrowless, messy, miss, mitigate, moderate, mussy, neglect, neglectful, neglecting, negligent, nerveless, nonaggressive, nonchalant, noninterfering, nonrestrictive, not pull fair, numb, numbed, of easy virtue, of loose morals, off, off-guard, offal, offscourings, omit, orts, otiose, out, overindulgent, overly permissive, overpermissive, parasitic, parings, pass over, pass up, passive, pause, permissive, phlegmatic, pithless, play, pluckless, poking, poky, pooped, potsherds, powerless, pretermit, procrastinate, procrastinating, procrastinative, procrastinatory, promiscuous, put out, quench, ragged, raggedy, rags, raspings, reduction, refuse, regardless, relax, relaxed, release, reluctant, remiss, remit, resigned, rickety, room, rubbery, ruinous, sagging, sapless, sauntering, scamping, scatter, scourings, scraggly, scrap iron, scraps, scrounging, scum, sedentary, seedy, shabby, shaky, shards, shavings, shiftless, shirk, shoddy, shuffling, sinewless, skimping, skip, skulk, slack off, slack up, slacken, slackening, slackness, slag, slake, slatternly, sleeping, slide out of, slighting, slip out of, slipshod, slop, sloppy, slops, slothful, slovenly, slow, slow as death, slow as molasses, slow as slow, slow down, slow up, slow-crawling, slow-foot, slow-going, slow-legged, slow-moving, slow-paced, slow-poky, slow-running, slow-sailing, slow-stepped, slow-up, sluggish, slumbering, slurring, sluttish, smoldering, smother, snail-paced, snaillike, sneak out of, snuff, snuff out, soft, soldier, soporific, sordid, spineless, spiritless, sponging, spunkless, squalid, staggering, stagnant, stamp out, standing, static, stifle, stoic, streaming, strengthless, strolling, stubble, stupefied, supine, suspended, sweepings, swill, tacky, tame, tares, tattered, tentative, tire, toddling, torpid, tortoiselike, tottering, trifle, trudging, turtlelike, unaroused, unbend, unbrace, uncaring, uncircumspect, unconcerned, unenterprising, unglue, unguarded, unhardened, unhurried, uninterested, unkempt, unlax, unleash, unneat, unnerved, unrestrained, unrigorous, unsightly, unsteady, unstick, unstrain, unstring, unstrung, untidy, untighten, unwary, unwatchful, unwind, waddling, wanton, wastage, waste, waste matter, wastepaper, wayward, weak, weaken, weakly, weeds, welsh, whorish, withdrawn, work-shyROGET THESAURUS
slack
Unwillingness
N unwillingness, indisposition, indisposedness, disinclination, aversation, nolleity, nolition, renitence, renitency, reluctance, indifference, backwardness, slowness, want of alacrity, want of readiness, indocility, scrupulousness, scrupulosity, qualms of conscience, twinge of conscience, delicacy, demur, scruple, qualm, shrinking, recoil, hesitation, fastidiousness, averseness, dissent, refusal, unwilling, not in the vein, loth, loath, shy of, disinclined, indisposed, averse, reluctant, not content, adverse, laggard, backward, remiss, slack, slow to, indifferent, scrupulous, squeamish, repugnant, restiff, restive, demurring, unconsenting, involuntary, unwillingly, grudgingly, with a heavy heart, with a bad, with an ill grace, against one's wishes, against one's will, against the grain, sore against one's wishes, sore against one's will, sore against one's grain, invita Minerva, a contre caeur, malgre soi, in spite of one's teeth, in spite of oneself, nolens volens, perforce, under protest, no, not for the world, far be it from me.Insufficiency
N insufficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, incompetence, deficiency, imperfection, shortcoming, paucity, stint, scantiness, none to spare, bare subsistence, scarcity, dearth, want, need, lack, poverty, exigency, inanition, starvation, famine, drought, dole, mite, pittance, short allowance, short commons, half rations, banyan day, emptiness, poorness, depletion, vacancy, flaccidity, ebb tide, low water, a beggarly account of empty boxes, indigence, insolvency, drain of resources, impoverish, stint, put on short allowance, do insufficiently, scotch the snake, Adj, insufficient, inadequate, too little, not enough, unequal to, incompetent, weighed in the balance and found wanting, perfunctory, deficient, wanting imperfect, ill-furnished, ill-provided, ill- stored, ill-off, slack, at a low ebb, empty, vacant, bare, short of, out of, destitute of, devoid of, bereft of, denuded of, dry, drained, unprovided, unsupplied, unfurnished, unreplenished, unfed, unstored, untreasured, empty-handed, meager, poor, thin, scrimp, sparing, spare, stinted, starved, starving, halfstarved, famine-stricken, famished, jejune, scant, scarce, not to be had, not to be had for love or money, not to be had at any price, scurvy, stingy, at the end of one's tether, without resources, in want, in debt, insufficiently, in default of, for want of, failing, semper avarus eget.Incoherence
N incoherence, nonadhesion, immiscibility, incoherence, looseness, laxity, relaxation, loosening, freedom, disjunction, rope of sand, nonadhesive, immiscible, incoherent, detached, loose, baggy, slack, lax, relaxed, flapping, streaming, disheveled, segregated, like grains of sand unconsolidated &c, uncombined, noncohesive.Inactivity
N inactivity, inaction, inertness, obstinacy, lull, quiescence, rust, rustiness, idleness, remissness, sloth, indolence, indiligence, dawdling, ergophobia, otiosity, dullness, languor, segnity, segnitude, lentor, sluggishness, procrastination, torpor, torpidity, torpescence, stupor, somnolence, drowsiness, nodding, oscitation, oscitancy, pandiculation, hypnotism, lethargy, statuvolence heaviness, heavy eyelids, sleep, slumber, sound sleep, heavy sleep, balmy sleep, Morpheus, Somnus, coma, trance, ecstasis, dream, hibernation, nap, doze, snooze, siesta, wink of sleep, forty winks, snore, hypnology, dull work, pottering, relaxation, Castle of Indolence, lullaby, sedative, tranquilizer, hypnotic, sleeping pill, relaxant, anaesthetic, general anaesthetic, torpedo, idler, drone, droil, dawdle, mopus, do- little faineant, dummy, sleeping partner, afternoon farmer, truant, bummer, loafer, goldbrick, goldbicker, lounger, lazzarone, lubber, lubbard, slow coach (slow, ), opium eater, lotus eater, slug, lag, sluggard, slugabed, slumberer, dormouse, marmot, waiter on Providence, fruges consumere natus, inactive, motionless, unoccupied, unbusied, indolent, lazy, slothful, idle, lusk, remiss, slack, inert, torpid, sluggish, otiose, languid, supine, heavy, dull, leaden, lumpish, exanimate, soulless, listless, drony, dronish, lazy as Ludlam's dog, dilatory, laggard, lagging, slow, rusty, flagging, lackadaisical, maudlin, fiddle-faddle, pottering, shilly-shally, sleeping asleep, fast asleep, dead asleep, sound asleep, in a sound sleep, sound as a top, dormant, comatose, in the arms of Morpheus, in the lap of Morpheus, sleepy, sleepful, dozy, drowsy, somnolent, torpescent, lethargic, lethargical, somnifacient, statuvolent, statuvolic, heavy, heavy with sleep, napping, somnific, somniferous, soporous, soporific, soporiferous, hypnotic, balmy, dreamy, unawakened, unawakened, sedative, inactively, at leisure, the eyes begin to draw straws, bankrupt of life yet prodigal of ease, better 50 years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay, idly busy rolls their world away, the mystery of folded sleep, the timely dew of sleep, thou driftest gently down the tides of sleep, tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep.Laxity
N laxity, laxness, looseness, slackness, toleration, freedom, anarchy, interregnum, relaxation, loosening, remission, dead letter, brutum fulmen, misrule, license, licentiousness, insubordination, lynch law, nihilism, reign of violence, dethronement, deposition, usurpation, abdication, lax, loose, slack, remiss, weak, relaxed, licensed, reinless, unbridled, anarchical, unauthorized, adespotic.Weakness
N weakness, debility, atony, relaxation, languor, enervation, impotence, infirmity, effeminacy, feminality, fragility, flaccidity, inactivity, anaemia, bloodlessness, deficiency of blood, poverty of blood, declension of strength, loss of strength, failure of strength, delicacy, invalidation, decrepitude, asthenia, adynamy, cachexy, cachexia, sprain, strain, reed, thread, rope of sand, house of cards, softling, weakling, infant, youth, weak, feeble, debile, impotent, relaxed, unnerved sapless, strengthless, powerless, weakly, unstrung, flaccid, adynamic, asthenic, nervous, soft, effeminate, feminate, womanly, frail, fragile, shattery, flimsy, unsubstantial, insubstantial, gimcrack, gingerbread, rickety, creaky, creaking, cranky, craichy, drooping, tottering, broken, lame, withered, shattered, shaken, crazy, shaky, palsied, decrepit, languid, poor, infirm, faint, faintish, sickly, dull, slack, evanid, spent, short-winded, effete, weather-beaten, decayed, rotten, worn, seedy, languishing, wasted, washy, laid low, pulled down, the worse for wear, unstrengthened, unsupported, unaided, unassisted, aidless, defenseless, cantilevered (support), on its last legs, weak as a child, weak as a baby, weak as a chicken, weak as a cat, weak as a rat, weak as water, weak as water gruel, weak as gingerbread, weak as milk and water, colorless, non sum qualis eram.Physical Inertness
N physical inertness, inertness, dullness, inertia, vis inertiae, inertion, inactivity, torpor, languor, quiescence, latency, inaction, passivity, mental inertness, sloth, inexcitability, irresolution, obstinacy, permanence, rare gas, paraffin, noble metal, unreactivity, inert, inactive, passive, torpid, sluggish, dull, heavy, flat, slack, tame, slow, blunt, unreactive, lifeless, dead, uninfluential, latent, dormant, smoldering, unexerted, inactively, in suspense, in abeyance.Slowness
N slowness, languor, drawl, creeping, lentor, retardation, slackening, delay, claudication, jog trot, dog trot, mincing steps, slow march, slow time, slow goer, slow coach, slow back, lingerer, loiterer, sluggard, tortoise, snail, poke, dawdle, slow, slack, tardy, dilatory, gentle, easy, leisurely, deliberate, gradual, insensible, imperceptible, glacial, languid, sluggish, slow paced, tardigrade, snail-like, creeping, reptatorial, slowly, leisurely, piano, adagio, largo, larghetto, at half speed, under easy sail, at a foots pace, at a snail's pace, at a funeral pace, in slow time, with mincing steps, with clipped wings, haud passibus aequis, gradually, gradatim, by degrees, by slow degrees, by inches, by little and little, step by step, one step at a time, inch by inch, bit by bit, little by little, seriatim, consecutively, dum Roma deliberat Saguntum perit, at a glacial pace.Insulation
VB go out, die out, burn out, fizzle, extinguish, damp, slack, quench, smother, put out, stamp out, douse, snuff, snuff out, blow out, fireproof, flameproof.For further exploring for "slack" in Webster Dictionary Online
