SLACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does slack mean? 

• SLACK (noun)
  The noun SLACK has 6 senses:

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

3. a stretch of water without current or movement

4. a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot

5. the quality of being loose (not taut)

6. a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely

  Familiarity information: SLACK used as a noun is common.

• SLACK (adjective)
  The adjective SLACK has 3 senses:

1. not tense or taut

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

3. lacking in rigor or strictness

  Familiarity information: SLACK used as an adjective is uncommon.

• SLACK (verb)
  The verb SLACK has 8 senses:

1. avoid responsibilities and work, be idle

2. be inattentive to, or neglect

3. release tension on

4. make less active or fast

5. become slow or slower

6. make less active or intense

7. become less in amount or intensity

8. cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water

  Familiarity information: SLACK used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SLACK (noun)

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A noticeable deterioration in performance or quality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

a falloff in quality

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 3

Meaning:

A stretch of water without current or movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

slack; slack water

Context example:

suddenly they were in a slack and the water was motionless

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 4

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

mire; morass; quag; quagmire; slack

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 5

Meaning:

The quality of being loose (not taut)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

slack; slackness

Context example:

he hadn't counted on the slackness of the rope

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

looseness; play (movement or space for movement)

Derivation:

slack (release tension on)

slack (not tense or taut)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

he took up the slack

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

cord (a line made of twisted fibers or threads)

Derivation:

slack (not tense or taut)

slack (release tension on)

• SLACK (adjective)

Declension: comparative and superlative

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not tense or taut

Synonyms:

loose; slack

Context example:

a slack grip

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))

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Context example:

slack water

Similar:

standing ((of fluids) not moving or flowing)

Derivation:

slack (a stretch of water without current or movement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lacking in rigor or strictness

Synonyms:

lax; slack

Context example:

slack in maintaining discipline

Similar:

negligent (characterized by neglect and undue lack of concern)

Derivation:

slackness (the quality of being lax and neglectful)

• SLACK (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be inattentive to, or neglect

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

He slacks his attention

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 3

Meaning:

Release tension on

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

slack the rope

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 4

Meaning:

Make less active or fast

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

relax; slack; slack up; slacken

Context example:

Don't relax your efforts now

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 5

Meaning:

Become slow or slower

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

slack; slacken; slow; slow down; slow up

Context example:

Production slowed

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 6

Meaning:

Make less active or intense

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

abate; slack; slake

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 7

Meaning:

Become less in amount or intensity

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

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

Context example:

The rain let up after a few hours

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

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

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 8

Meaning:

Cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

slack; slake

Context example:

slack lime

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)

 Context examples 

It is said, too, that he can only pass running water at the slack or the flood of the tide.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Maud held the turn on the windlass and coiled down the slack.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before it, I was not so thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a trifle warily.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He said that we were slack about such matters—that it would be easy for a traitor to get the plans.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Buck tightened the traces, then slacked them for a matter of several inches.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

It's ebb at half-arter three, slack water half an hour.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I was going to say that my practice could get along very well for a day or two, since it is the slackest time in the year.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It’s a perfect month to allow yourself some slack, to catch up on paperwork, and to strategize for the coming year.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

She had some sort of scarlet pelisse with white swans-down about her neck, and she held the reins slack in her hands, while the pony wandered from side to side of the road as the fancy took him.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When I thought I had it I cried to her to slack away; but the spar righted, despite my efforts, and dropped back toward the water.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)