Library / English Dictionary

SLACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely

Example:

he took up the slack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("slack" is a kind of...):

cord (a line made of twisted fibers or threads)

Derivation:

slack (release tension on)

slack (not tense or taut)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The quality of being loose (not taut)

Example:

he hadn't counted on the slackness of the rope

Synonyms:

slack; slackness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("slack" is a kind of...):

looseness; play (movement or space for movement)

Derivation:

slack (release tension on)

slack (not tense or taut)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot

Synonyms:

mire; morass; quag; quagmire; slack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("slack" is a kind of...):

bog; peat bog (wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation; has poorer drainage than a swamp; soil is unfit for cultivation but can be cut and dried and used for fuel)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A stretch of water without current or movement

Example:

suddenly they were in a slack and the water was motionless

Synonyms:

slack; slack water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("slack" is a kind of...):

stretch (a large and unbroken expanse or distance)

Derivation:

slack (flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A noticeable deterioration in performance or quality

Example:

a falloff in quality

Synonyms:

drop-off; falling off; falloff; slack; slump

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("slack" is a kind of...):

declension; decline in quality; deterioration; worsening (process of changing to an inferior state)

Derivation:

slack (make less active or intense)

slack (become slow or slower)

slack (make less active or fast)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("slack" is a kind of...):

debris; detritus; dust; junk; rubble (the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up)

Derivation:

slack (cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lacking in rigor or strictness

Example:

slack in maintaining discipline

Synonyms:

lax; slack

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

negligent (characterized by neglect and undue lack of concern)

Derivation:

slackness (the quality of being lax and neglectful)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide

Example:

slack water

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

standing ((of fluids) not moving or flowing)

Derivation:

slack (a stretch of water without current or movement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Not tense or taut

Example:

a slack grip

Synonyms:

loose; slack

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

lax (lacking in firmness or tension; not taut)

Derivation:

slack (a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely)

slack; slackness (the quality of being loose (not taut))

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water

Example:

slack lime

Synonyms:

slack; slake

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "slack" is one way to...):

hydrate (cause to be hydrated; add water or moisture to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "slack"):

air-slake (alter by exposure to air with conversion at least in part to a carbonate)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

slack (dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become less in amount or intensity

Example:

The rain let up after a few hours

Synonyms:

abate; die away; let up; slack; slack off

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "slack" is one way to...):

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen (decrease in size, extent, or range)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make less active or intense

Synonyms:

abate; slack; slake

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "slack" is one way to...):

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

slack (a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become slow or slower

Example:

Production slowed

Synonyms:

slack; slacken; slow; slow down; slow up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "slack" is one way to...):

weaken (become weaker)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

slack (a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make less active or fast

Example:

Don't relax your efforts now

Synonyms:

relax; slack; slack up; slacken

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "slack" is one way to...):

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

slack (a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Release tension on

Example:

slack the rope

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "slack" is one way to...):

loose; loosen (make loose or looser)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

slack (a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely)

slack (the quality of being loose (not taut))

Sense 7

Meaning:

Be inattentive to, or neglect

Example:

He slacks his attention

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "slack" is one way to...):

neglect (fail to attend to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

slacking (the evasion of work or duty)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Avoid responsibilities and work, be idle

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "slack" is one way to...):

fiddle; goldbrick; shirk; shrink from (avoid (one's assigned duties))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

slacker (a person who shirks his work or duty (especially one who tries to evade military service in wartime))

slacking (the evasion of work or duty)

Credits

 Context examples: 

They were slack in all things, without order or discipline.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Nota bene, in Madam's telegram he went south from Carfax, that means he went to cross the river, and he could only do so at slack of tide, which should be something before one o'clock.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Then, I saw him standing alone, in a seaman's frock and trousers: a rope in his hand, or slung to his wrist: another round his body: and several of the best men holding, at a little distance, to the latter, which he laid out himself, slack upon the shore, at his feet.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Instructing her how to hold the turn and be ready to slack away at command, I laid hold of the mast with my hands and tried to balance it inboard across the rail.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Buck swung to the right, ending the movement in a plunge that took up the slack and with a sudden jerk arrested his one hundred and fifty pounds.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

In meantime we may rest and in peace, for there are waters between us which he do not want to pass, and which he could not if he would—unless the ship were to touch the land, and then only at full or slack tide.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Again instructing Maud to slack away at the windlass when I gave the word, I proceeded to heave on the watch-tackle.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Hans paid out the rope, permitting no slack, while Pete kept it clear of coils.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

At first I inclined to slack off sail and beat about till the fog was lifted; but whiles, I thocht that if the Deil was minded to get us into the Black Sea quick, he was like to do it whether we would or no.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I smiled in superior fashion, and, slacking off on one of the boom-guys and taking in on the other, swung the mast perfectly in the centre of the deck.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)