SLACK • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Slack

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Slack

noun

1.

Dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve.

2.

A noticeable deterioration in performance or quality. Synonyms: drop-off, falling off, falloff, slump. "A gradual slack in output" , "A drop-off in attendance" , "A falloff in quality"

3.

A stretch of water without current or movement. Synonym: slack water.

4.

A soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot. Synonyms: mire, morass, quag, quagmire.

5.

The quality of being loose (not taut). Synonym: slackness.

6.

A cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely.

adjective

(compar. slacker; superl. slackest)

1.

Not tense or taut. Synonym: loose. "Slack and wrinkled skin" , "Slack sails" , "A slack rope"

2.

Flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide.

3.

Lacking in rigor or strictness. Synonym: lax. "Lax in attending classes" , "Slack in maintaining discipline"

verb

1.

Avoid responsibilities and work, be idle.

2.

Be inattentive to, or neglect.

3.

Release tension on.

4.

Make less active or fast. Synonyms: relax, slack up, slacken. "Don't relax your efforts now"

5.

Become slow or slower. Synonyms: slacken, slow, slow down, slow up.

6.

Make less active or intense. Synonyms: abate, slake.

7.

Become less in amount or intensity. Synonyms: abate, die away, let up, slack off. "The rain let up after a few hours"

8.

Cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water. Synonym: slake.

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Esther Hobart McQuigg Slack Morris

WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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"Slack" Quotes from Famous Books

... with lies in which they themselves believe. Thus, in the last phase, there are no parasites but only friends, no gifts but only loans, which are more esteemed favours than gifts once were. No one vicious but only tedious, and no one a poltroon but only slack. ...

— First and Last • H. Belloc

... Hanks got through the lock and the mules picked up the slack of the towrope again at Louise's vigorous suggestion. Inside the hold Sammy and Dot both wondered about the stopping of the boat. ...

— The Corner House Girls Growing Up - What Happened First, What Came Next. And How It Ended • Grace Brooks Hill

... the dancers give themselves to the saxophone. Their feet keep a rendezvous with the umpah umps. Their thoughts dance on the slack wire of the clarinet. Their veins beat time to the whinny of the derby wreathed cornet. The fiddles and the drums are partners for their arms and their muscles. But their hearts embrace shyly the Mother Aphrodite. Their hearts listen sadly ...

— A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago • Ben Hecht

... of Leyden, which, notwithstanding his exertions, had grown slack during his sickness, were now vigorously resumed. On the 1st of September, Admiral Boisot arrived out of Zealand with a small number of vessels, and with eight hundred veteran sailors. A wild and ferocious crew were those eight hundred Zealanders. Scarred, hacked, and even maimed, ...

— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... well as cope with those in the field. Besides, one must remember that in a matter like this we cannot fully depend on any force that we may gather. The archers and men-at-arms would be drawn largely from the same class as the better portion of these rioters, and would be slack in fighting against them. Certainly, those of the home counties could not be depended upon, and possibly even in the garrison of the Tower itself there may be many who cannot be trusted. The place, if well held, should stand out for months, but I am by no means sure that it will ...

— A March on London • G. A. Henty

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