slack
(noun, adjective, verb, adverb)
adjective
1. not tense or tight; not firmly extended.
- slack and wrinkled skin
- slack sails
- a slack rope
2. (of water) flowing with little speed
- slack water
Similar word(s): standing
3. lacking effort or work; not using due diligence or care.
- slack in maintaining discipline
Similar word(s): negligent, lax
4. not busy; sluggish.
Sentences with slack as an adjective:
- a slack hand
- slack in duty or service
- Business is slack.
adverb
1. Slackly.
- slack dried hops
noun
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
Definition categories: substance, debris, detritus, dust, junk, rubble
2. a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality
- a gradual slack in output
Similar word(s): falloff, slump
Definition categories: process, declension, deterioration, worsening
3. a stretch of water without current or movement
- suddenly they were in a slack and the water was motionless
Definition categories: object, stretch
4. a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
Similar word(s): mire, morass, quag, quagmire
Definition categories: object, bog
5. the quality of being loose (not taut)
- he hadn't counted on the slackness of the rope
Similar word(s): slackness
Definition categories: attribute, looseness, play
6. a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely
- he took up the slack
Definition categories: man–made, cord
Sentences with slack as a noun:
- The slack of a rope or of a sail.
verb
1. avoid responsibilities and work, be idle
Definition categories: social, fiddle, goldbrick, shirk
2. be inattentive to, or neglect
- He slacks his attention
Definition categories: cognition, neglect
3. release tension on
- slack the rope
Definition categories: change, loose, loosen
4. make less active or fast
- He slackened his pace as he got tired
Similar word(s): relax, slacken
Definition categories: change, decrease, lessen, minify
5. become slow or slower
Similar word(s): slacken, slow
Definition categories: change, weaken
6. make less active or intense
Definition categories: change, decrease, lessen, minify
7. become less in amount or intensity
Similar word(s): abate
Definition categories: change, decrease, diminish, fall, lessen
8. cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water
- slack lime
Similar word(s): slake
Definition categories: change, hydrate
Sentences with slack as a verb:
- Lime slacks.