slack
Part of speech: noun
adj
adv
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
Etymology: From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. For sense of coal dust, compare slag.
Inflected forms:
form: slacks
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: slacker
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: slackest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: slacks
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: slacking
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: slacked
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: slacked
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: the slack of a rope or of a sail
take in the slack
gloss: A dip in a surface.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: 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.
[…] 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 […]
[…] to make good the voids under the sleeper […] to take out "slacks" in the rail level […]
gloss: In particular, a shallow dell or hollow; a dip in the surface of terrain, such as between hills.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Cauldstane Slap, or rather Slack, is a much frequented pass, through which the periodical droves of black cattle are transported into England.
... 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.
Then she became a gay grey mare, / And stood in yonder slack; And he became a gilt saddle, / And sat upon her back.
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[…]
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.
gloss: A low-lying marsh or a pool, especially a tidal or intermittent one which periodically fills and drains.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: 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[…]
... 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.
Modern "moonpreneurs" now hijack tidal slacks to power server farms in Nova Scotia barns, mining Bitcoin during low tides when electricity costs crater.
gloss: Unconditional listening attention given by client to patient.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: 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."
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 […]
gloss: Lax; not tense; not firmly extended.
pos: adj
examples: a slack rope
gloss: Weak; not holding fast.
pos: adj
examples: a slack hand
gloss: Moderate in some capacity.
pos: adj
examples: a slack oven
gloss: Moderate in some capacity.
pos: adj
examples: a slack wind
gloss: Lacking diligence or care; not earnest or eager.
pos: adj
examples: slack in duty or service
The Lord is not ſlacke cõcerning his promiſe (as ſome men count ſlackneſſe)[…].
gloss: Not active or busy, successful, or violent.
pos: adj
examples: Business is slack.
the slack period following the main tourist season
“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.”
In the slack hours the service is maintained by single motor-coaches.
gloss: Excess; surplus to requirements.
pos: adj
examples: the slack capacity of an oil pipeline
gloss: Vulgar; sexually explicit, especially in dancehall music.
pos: adj
tags: Caribbean
Jamaica
slang
gloss: Lax.
pos: adj
gloss: Slackly.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: slack dried hops
Her clothes hung slack on her.
gloss: To slacken.
pos: verb
tags: ambitransitive
examples: I maruell I heare no nevves of Dromio, either hee ſlackes the matter, or betrayes his maiſter, I dare not motion anie thing to Stellio, till I knovve vvhat my boy hath don; Ile hunt him out, if the loiterſacke be gone ſpringing into a tauerne, Ile fetch him reeling out.
In this business of growing rich, poor men […] should slack their pace.
gloss: To mitigate; to reduce the strength of.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
examples: Ne did ſhe let dull ſleepe once to relent, / Nor wearineſſe to ſlack her haſt, but fled / Euer alike,[…].
gloss: To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake.
pos: verb
examples: Lime slacks.
gloss: To refuse to work as hard as one is supposed to.
pos: verb
examples: I can't afford to slack. This job is all I have!
Derived words: cut someone slack
cut someone some slack
Holme Slack
pick up the slack
slack action
slack suit
take up the slack
forslack
nonslack
overslack
slackadaisical
slack Alice
slack bob
slacken
slackery
slack fill
slackful
slack-handed
slackish
slack-jawed
slack-key
slackline
slackly
slackness
slackpack
slack-rope
slack space
slacktivism
slacktivist
slack variable
slack-water
slack water
slackwater
slackwire
unslack
multislack
slack off
slack up
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: дребни въглища
roman: drebni vǎglišta
lang: Catalan
word: carbonet
lang: Dutch
word: kolengruis
lang: Finnish
word: hiilipöly
lang: Finnish
word: hiilimurska
lang: French
word: gravier
lang: German
word: Schlacke
lang: Italian
word: carbonella
lang: Italian
word: polverino
lang: Macedonian
word: ја́гленов прав
roman: jáglenov prav
lang: Macedonian
word: си́тен ја́глен
roman: síten jáglen
lang: Russian
word: у́гольная пы́ль
roman: úgolʹnaja pýlʹ
lang: Spanish
word: carbonilla
lang: Spanish
word: carboncillo
lang: Spanish
word: cisco
lang: Bulgarian
word: отпускам се
roman: otpuskam se
lang: Bulgarian
word: безделнича
roman: bezdelniča
lang: Dutch
word: treuzelen
lang: Finnish
word: velttoilla
lang: Finnish
word: viivytellä
lang: Finnish
word: vetelehtiä
lang: French
word: glander
lang: German
word: trödeln
lang: German
word: bummeln
lang: German
word: faulenzen
lang: German
word: faul sein
lang: Macedonian
word: се о́пушта
roman: se ópušta
lang: Macedonian
word: безде́лничи
roman: bezdélniči
lang: Macedonian
word: се вле́чка
roman: se vléčka
lang: Portuguese
word: enrolar
lang: Russian
word: ло́дырничать
roman: lódyrničatʹ
lang: Russian
word: безде́льничать
roman: bezdélʹničatʹ
lang: Russian
word: сачкова́ть
roman: sačkovátʹ
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: odugovlačiti
lang: Spanish
word: haraganear
lang: Spanish
word: flojear