slack
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
slack (countable and uncountable; plural slacks)
- (uncountable) Small coal; coal dust.
- (countable) A valley, or small, shallow dell.
- (uncountable) The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.
- The slack of a rope or of a sail.
- (countable) A tidal marsh or shallow, that periodically fills and drains.
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
- (coal dust): nutty slack
Translations [edit]
small coal, coal dust
Adjective [edit]
slack (comparative slacker, superlative slackest)
- Lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended.
- a slack rope
- Weak; not holding fast.
- a slack hand
- Remiss; backward; not using due diligence or care; not earnest or eager.
- slack in duty or service
- Not violent, rapid, or pressing.
- Business is slack.
- 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 3, Well Tackled![1]:
- “They know our boats will stand up to their work,” said Willison, “and that counts for a good deal. A low estimate from us doesn't mean scamped work, but just for that we want to keep the yard busy over a slack time.”
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
not tense
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weak
not using due diligence or care
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Adverb [edit]
slack (not comparable)
- Slackly.
- slack dried hops
Translations [edit]
Verb [edit]
slack (third-person singular simple present slacks, present participle slacking, simple past and past participle slacked)
- To slacken.
- Robert South
- In this business of growing rich, poor men […] should slack their pace.
- Robert South
- (obsolete) To mitigate; to reduce the strength of.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
- Ne did she let dull sleepe once to relent, / Nor wearinesse to slack her hast, but fled / Ever alike [...].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
- (followed by “off”) to procrastinate; to be lazy
- (followed by “off”) to refuse or dislike exerting effort
Translations [edit]
to procrastinate
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to refuse or dislike exerting effort