slack1

 
Pronunciation: /slak/

adjective

  • 1not taut or held tightly in position; loose: a slack rope her mouth went slack
  • 2having or showing laziness or negligence: slack accounting procedures
  • 3slow or sluggish: they were working at a slack pace
  • (of business or trade) characterized by a lack of work or activity; quiet: business was rather slack
  • 4West Indian lewd: the veteran king of slack chat
  • (of a person, typically a woman) promiscuous.
  • 5(of a tide) neither ebbing nor flowing: soon the water will become slack, and the tide will turn slack tides

noun

  • 1the part of a rope or line which is not held taut; the loose or unused part: I picked up the rod and wound in the slack
  • 2 (slacks) casual trousers: he put on a grey shirt and loose cotton slacks
  • 3 informal a spell of inactivity or laziness: he slept deeply, refreshed by a little slack in the daily routine

verb

  • 1 [with object] loosen (something, especially a rope): slacking the outhaul allows you to adjust the sail
  • 2decrease or reduce in intensity, quantity, or speed: [no object]: the flow of blood slacked off [with object]: the horse slacked his pace
  • 3 [no object] British informal work slowly or lazily: she ticked off her girls if they were slacking
  • 4 [with object] slake (lime): 150 sacks of lime were slacked by the inrushing water

Phrases

cut someone some slack

informal allow someone some leeway in their conduct: the press is willing to cut the President some slack because they like him

take (or pick) up the slack

  • 1improve the use of resources to avoid an undesirable lull in business: as domestic demand starts to flag, foreign demand will help pick up the slack
  • 2pull on the loose end or part of a rope in order to make it taut: my partner held the rope ready to take up the slack as I climbed

Derivatives

slackly

adverb

slackness

noun

Origin:

Old English slæc 'inclined to be lazy, unhurried', of Germanic origin; related to Latin laxus 'loose'