slack

Plural: slacks

Noun

• dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve
• a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality
  • "a gradual slack in output"
• a stretch of water without current or movement
  • "suddenly they were in a slack and the water was motionless"
• a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
• the quality of being loose (not taut)
  • "he hadn't counted on the slackness of the rope"
• a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely
  • "he took up the slack"
• The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.
• A tidal marsh or shallow that periodically fills and drains.
• Unconditional listening attention given by client to patient.
• Attributive form of slacks (“semi-formal trousers”).
• A temporary speed restriction where track maintenance or engineering work is being carried out at a particular place.
• A valley, or small, shallow dell; a sag or saddle in a ridge.
• A flat-bottomed, hollow zone within a sand-dune system that has developed over impervious strata, sometimes due to erosion or blow-out of the dune system; its flat base level is therefore close to or at the permanent water-table level, and therefore has rich, marshy flora, with Salix species (willows) as typical woody colonisers.
• Small coal; coal dust.

Verb

Verb Forms: slacked, slacking, slacks

• To slacken or become less active or intense.
• avoid responsibilities and work, be idle
• be inattentive to, or neglect
  • "He slacks his attention"
• release tension on
  • "slack the rope"
• make less active or fast
  • "He slackened his pace as he got tired"
• become slow or slower
• make less active or intense
• become less in amount or intensity
• cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water
  • "slack lime"
• To slacken.
• To mitigate; to reduce the strength of.
• To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake.
• To refuse to work as hard as one is supposed to.

Adjective Satellite

• not tense or taut
  • "slack and wrinkled skin"
  • "slack sails"
  • "a slack rope"
• flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide
  • "slack water"
• lacking in rigor or strictness
  • "slack in maintaining discipline"

Adj

• Lax; not tense; not firmly extended.
• Weak; not holding fast.
• Moderate in some capacity.
• Moderately warm.
• Moderate in some capacity.
• Moderate in speed.
• Lacking diligence or care; not earnest or eager.
• Not active or busy, successful, or violent.
• Excess; surplus to requirements.
• Vulgar; sexually explicit, especially in dancehall music.
• Lax.

Adv

• Slackly.

Adjective

• Not tight, taut, or busy; loose.

Examples

• a slack hand
• a slack oven
• a slack rope
• a slack wind
• Business is slack.
• I can't afford to slack. This job is all I have!
• Lime slacks.
• My opponent’s concentration grew SLACK, allowing me to sneak in a high-scoring word.
• Never SLACK on your vocabulary practice, or your Words With Friends game will suffer.
• slack dried hops
• slack in duty or service
• take in the slack
• the slack capacity of an oil pipeline
• the slack of a rope or of a sail

Synonyms

abate, die away, drop-off, falling off, falloff, lax, let up, loose, mire, morass, quag, quagmire, relax, slack off, slack up, slack water, slacken, slackness, slake, slow, slow down, slow up, slump, culm, easy, moderate, slough

Anagrams of slack