slack adj

1 not tense or taut; "the old man's skin hung loose and gray"; "slack and wrinkled skin"; "slack sails"; "a slack rope" [syn: loose]

2 lacking in strength or firmness or resilience; "flaccid muscles"; "took his lax hand in hers"; "gave a limp handshake"; "a limp gesture as if waving away all desire to know" G.K.Chesterton; "a slack grip" [syn: flaccid, lax, limp]

3 flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide; "slack water"

4 lacking in rigor or strictness; "such lax and slipshod ways are no longer acceptable"; "lax in attending classes"; "slack in maintaining discipline" [syn: lax]

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

2 a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality; "the team went into a slump"; "a gradual slack in output"; "a drop-off in attendance"; "a falloff in quality" [syn: slump, drop-off, falloff, falling off]

3 a stretch of water without current or movement; "suddenly they were in slack water"

4 the condition of being loose (not taut); "he hadn't counted on the slackness of the rope" [syn: slackness]

5 a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely; "he took up the slack"

1 avoid responsibilities and work, be idle

2 be inattentive to, or neglect; "He slacks his attention"

3 release tension on; "slack the rope"

4 make less active or fast; "He slackened his pace as he got tired"; "Don't relax your efforts now" [syn: slacken, slack up, relax]

5 become slow or slower; "Production slowed" [syn: slow, slow down, slow up, slacken]

6 make less active or intense [syn: slake, abate]

7 become less in amount or intensity; "The storm abated"; "The rain let up after a few hours" [syn: abate, let up, slack off, die away]

8 cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water; "slack lime" [syn: slake]

English

Pronunciation

• /slæk/

  Rhymes with: -æk

Noun

1. Small coal; coal dust.
2. A valley, or small, shallow dell.
3. The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.

   The slack of a rope or of a sail.

4. A tidal marsh or shallow, that periodically fills and drains.

Synonyms

• culm

Adjective

en-adj er

1. Lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended.

   a slack rope

2. Weak; not holding fast.

   a slack hand

3. Remiss; backward; not using due diligence or care; not earnest or eager.

   slack in duty or service

4. Not violent, rapid, or pressing.

   Business is slack.

Synonyms

• slow, moderate, easy

Translations

Adverb

1. Slackly.

   slack dried hops

Verb

1. In the context of "followed by “off”": to procrastinate; to be lazy
2. In the context of "followed by “off”": to refuse or dislike exerting effort

Translations

Slack may refer to:

• John Bamford Slack, British politician and lay preacher
• Slack (project management), a term used in project management
• Slack, West Yorkshire, a village in Calderdale, England.
• Slackware, a Linux distribution
• Slack, a central belief of the Church of the SubGenius
• Slackness, lyrics of a crude or bawdy nature in dancehall music are often called "slack".
• Slack space, computer storage space wasted due to internal fragmentation.
• Slack River in Pas-de-Calais, northern France
• Slacks, a synonym for trousers

See also:

• Slacker

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