Slack

Slack (slăk), n. [Cf. Slag.] Small coal; also, coal dust; culm. Raymond.

Slack, n. [Icel. slakki a slope on a mountain edge.] A valley, or small, shallow dell. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.

Slack, a. [Compar. Slacker; superl. Slackest.] [OE. slak, AS. sleac; akin to OS. slak, OHG. slah, Prov. G. schlack, Icel. slakr, Sw. slak; cf. Skr. sṛj to let loose, to throw. Cf. Slake.] Lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended; as, a slack rope.

2. Weak; not holding fast; as, a slack hand. Milton.

3. Remiss; backward; not using due diligence or care; not earnest or eager; as, slack in duty or service.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness. 2 Pet. iii. 9.

4. Not violent, rapid, or pressing; slow; moderate; easy; as, business is slack. "With slack pace." Chaucer.

Cæsar . . . about sunset, hoisting sail with a slack southwest, at midnight was becalmed. Milton.

Slack in stays (Naut.), slow in going about, as a ship. — Slack water, the time when the tide runs slowly, or the water is at rest; or the interval between the flux and reflux of the tide. — Slack-water navigation, navigation in a stream the depth of which has been increased, and the current diminished, by a dam or dams.

Syn. — Loose; relaxed; weak; remiss; backward; abated; diminished; inactive; slow; tardy; dull.

Slack (slăk), adv. Slackly; as, slack dried hops.

Slack, n. The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it; as, the slack of a rope or of a sail.

Slack, Slack′en, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Slacked, Slackened; p. pr. & vb. n. Slacking, Slackening.] [See Slack, a.] 1. To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather.

2. To be remiss or backward; to be negligent.

3. To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake; as, lime slacks.

4. To abate; to become less violent.

Whence these raging fires Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames. Milton.

5. To lose rapidity; to become more slow; as, a current of water slackens.

6. To languish; to fail; to flag.

7. To end; to cease; to desist; to slake. [Obs.]

That through your death your lineage should slack. Chaucer.

They will not of that firste purpose slack. Chaucer.

Slack, Slack′en, v. t. 1. To render slack; to make less tense or firm; as, to slack a rope; to slacken a bandage. Wycklif (Acts xxvii. 40)

2. To neglect; to be remiss in. [Obs.] Shak.

Slack not the pressage. Dryden.

3. To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake; as, to slack lime.

4. To cause to become less eager; to repress; to make slow or less rapid; to retard; as, to slacken pursuit; to slacken industry. "Rancor for to slack." Chaucer.

I should be grieved, young prince, to think my presence Unbent your thoughts, and slackened 'em to arms. Addison.

In this business of growing rich, poor men should slack their pace. South.

With such delay Well plased, they slack their course. Milton.

5. To cause to become less intense; to mitigate; to abate; to ease.

To respite, or deceive, or slack thy pain Of this ill mansion. Milton.

Air-slacked lime, lime slacked by exposure to the air, in consequence of the absorption of carton dioxide and water, by which it is converted into carbonate of lime and hydrate of lime.