slack
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /slæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: slacks
Etymology: From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. For sense of coal dust, compare slag.
Senses: examples: text: the slack of a rope or of a sail
text: take in the slack
glosses: The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.
examples: text: Richardson states that a low joint, a short distance from Haslam's Creek Bridge, was, in his opinion, the cause of the accident. […] [He] told Morgan, the Permanent Way Inspector, that there was a "slack" in the road on the Parramatta side of Haslam's Creek Bridge, […] I can positively state […] There was no such slack. The road was in as good running condition as I would wish to see any road. On all lines of course there are slacks, but not slacks of a serious nature; and that there was any such slack or depression in the rails as spoken of by Richardson I positively deny.
ref: 1858, New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council, Votes & Proceedings, page 1020:
text: a road may be kept up to approximately the same level at all times, and a fair surface maintained by rolling in large patches occasionally, as well as opening slacks in the road when they appear and effecting petty repairs. […] a series of slacks will begin to show in the run of the wheels; or […]
ref: 1904, Public Works and Journal of Civil Engineering, page 90:
text: […] to make good the voids under the sleeper […] to take out "slacks" in the rail level […]
ref: 1951, Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain), Proceedings of the Joint Engineering Conference, 1951, page 45:
glosses: A dip in a surface.
examples: text: Cauldstane Slap, or rather Slack, is a much frequented pass, through which the periodical droves of black cattle are transported into England.
ref: 1815, Alexander Pennecuik, The Works of Alexander Pennecuik ...: Containing the Description of Tweeddale, and Miscellaneous Poems, page 141:
text: ... for they had at that time observed the side of the brae, where the little green slack was situated, covered with a sheet of flame for a moment.
ref: 1837, James Hogg, The hunt of Eildon. The adventures of Basil Lee. Adam Bell. Duncan Campbell. An old soldier's tale. Katie Cheyne. The long pack. A country funeral. The shepherd's calendar, page 249:
text: Then she became a gay grey mare, / And stood in yonder slack; And he became a gilt saddle, / And sat upon her back.
ref: 1845, Alexander Whitelaw, The Book of Scottish Ballads Collected and Illustrated with Historical and Critical Notices, London : Blackie, page 159:
text: Not that every mountain stream springs from a tarn, but almost every tarn sends out a stream. Then, tarn-hunting teaches the relatively position of places almost as exactly as do the mountain-tops, leading by "backs," and "shoulders," and "slacks," and "feet," and over the lower heights straight to half a dozen seemingly irreconcilable districts[…]
ref: 1864, Elizabeth Lynn Linton, The Lake Country, page 172:
text: The great interest of the sandhills is the slacks. They are more frequent in some parts than in others, for there are miles where the hollows are all sand and stargrass. But every here and there the hills have receded and formed a little flat valley, where there is something like soil, and where the rain lodges and the mosses grow. This is a "slack;" and in the Lancashire slacks may be found some of the most beautiful […] flowers.
ref: 1880, Littell's Living Age, page 448:
glosses: In particular, a shallow dell or hollow; a dip in the surface of terrain, such as between hills.
examples: text: The "slacks" I have mentioned are fresh-water pools which extend just inside the outer sandhills. Being mostly dry in summer, the shore fowl love to breed there. Peewits nest on their banks, and the long grasses and sand willow[…]
ref: 1901, The Pall Mall Magazine, page 138:
text: ... in that quarter lay the great slack of the Watch Hill, the yellow slack that feeds the Blackburn, and in which horse and rider might readily disappear for ever.
ref: 1983 [1897], Ernest Hamilton, The Outlaws of the Marches:
text: Modern "moonpreneurs" now hijack tidal slacks to power server farms in Nova Scotia barns, mining Bitcoin during low tides when electricity costs crater.
ref: (Can we date this quote?), Conrad Riker, Fishing: A Comprehensive Exploration, Conrad Riker:
glosses: A low-lying marsh or a pool, especially a tidal or intermittent one which periodically fills and drains.
examples: text: The counselor is directed to give his client "free attention," or "slack," performing a kind of vigil, a version of Carl Rogers's "unconditional positive regard."
ref: 1979, Richard Dean Rosen, Psychobabble, page 93:
text: We have apparently been doing this all our lives, since we were first distressed. This collection of ancient habits seems to be "energized" by the presence, or even the promise, of "slack" or free attention from any person in the situation […]
ref: 1983, Harvey Jackins, The Reclaiming of Power, page 14:
qualifier: psychotherapy
glosses: Unconditional listening attention given by client to patient.
examples: text: The breeches formerly worn with those spiral leggings have been succeeded by full length, slack-type trousers which are loose at the knee and around the calf.
ref: 1943, Jacob Armstrong Swisher, Iowa in Times of War, State Historical Society of Iowa, page 124:
text: Recently though, slack manufacturers have been cuddling under the wings of the clothing industry to a greater extent than ever, for it has become good business to promote separate slacks and sport coats as a coordinated sales unit.
ref: 1970, Harry A. Cobrin, The Men’s Clothing Industry: Colonial Through Modern Times, New York, N.Y.: Fairchild Publications, Inc., →ISBN, page 7:
text: At that time, it was customary for male college students in Peking to wear long gowns. With a pair of slacks and leather shoes, plus a scarf in the winter, Shu looked very handsome. I tried to wear the gown for two days, and gave it up because I found it difficult to reach the slack pockets under it.
ref: 2004, Pei Pin Han, “Friendship for 54 Years”, in Amy Lanping Sung, Hu Kung-Chung Chien, editors, Shu Chien: Tributes on His 70th Birthday, World Scientific, →ISBN, page 38:
glosses: Attributive form of slacks (“semi-formal trousers”).
Synonyms: sense: tidal marsh
word: slough
Derived terms: cut someone slack
cut someone some slack
Holme Slack
pick up the slack
slack action
slack suit
take up the slack