slacken
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English slakenen, equivalent to slack + -en.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
slacken (third-person singular simple present slackens, present participle slackening, simple past and past participle slackened)
- (intransitive) To gradually decrease in intensity or tautness; to become slack.
- The pace slackened.
- 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, OCLC 305520:
- He seemed tired, and the Rat let him rest unquestioned, understanding something of what was in his thoughts; knowing, too, the value all animals attach at times to mere silent companionship, when the weary muscles slacken and the mind marks time.
- (transitive) To make slack, less taut, or less intense.
- slacken the rope
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars:
- 1986, Mari Sandoz, The Horsecatcher:
- Elk slackened the rope so he could walk farther away, and together they went awkwardly up the trail toward the grassy little flat […]
- To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake.
- to slacken lime
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
(intransitive) to gradually decrease in intensity
(transitive) to gradually decrease in intensity
to make less taut — see loosen
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English words suffixed with -en (inchoative)
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ækən
- Rhymes:English/ækən/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
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- English transitive verbs