slack
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slack¹
- /slæk/
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. For sense of coal dust, compare slag.
noun slacks
- The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it. the slack of a rope or of a sail
- A dip in a surface. Richardson states that a low joint, a short distance from Haslam's Creek Bridge, was, in his opinion, the cause of the accident. […] [He] told Morgan, the Permanent Way Inspector, that there was a "slack" in the road on the Parramatta side of Haslam's Creek Bridge, […] I can positively state […] The
- In particular, a shallow dell or hollow; a dip in the surface of terrain, such as between hills. Cauldstane Slap, or rather Slack, is a much frequented pass, through which the periodical droves of black cattle are transported into England.
-
A low-lying marsh or a pool, especially a tidal or intermittent one which periodically fills and drains.
The "slacks" I have mentioned are fresh-water pools which extend just inside the outer sandhills. Being mostly dry in summer, the shore fowl love to breed there. Peewits nest on their banks, and the long grasses and sand willow[…]
Similar: slough
- Forbearance; lenience; gracious allowance. cut [someone] some slack [= cut them a break]
- Unconditional listening attention given by client to patient. The counselor is directed to give his client "free attention," or "slack," performing a kind of vigil, a version of Carl Rogers's "unconditional positive regard."
- Attributive form of slacks (“semi-formal trousers”). The breeches formerly worn with those spiral leggings have been succeeded by full length, slack-type trousers which are loose at the knee and around the calf.
adjective slacker · slackest
- Lax; not tense; not firmly extended. a slack rope
- Weak; not holding fast. a slack hand
- Moderately warm. a slack oven
- Moderate in speed. a slack wind
- Lacking diligence or care; not earnest or eager. slack in duty or service
- Not active or busy, successful, or violent. Business is slack.
- Excess; surplus to requirements. the slack capacity of an oil pipeline
- Vulgar; sexually explicit, especially in dancehall music.
- Lax.
adverb
- Slackly. slack dried hops
slack²
- /slæk/
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
From Middle English slakken, slaken, from Old English slacian, from Proto-Germanic *slakōną (“to slack, slacken”).
verb slacks · slacking · slacked
- To slacken. I maruell I heare no nevves of Dromio, either hee ſlackes the matter, or betrayes his maiſter, I dare not motion anie thing to Stellio, till I knovve vvhat my boy hath don; Ile hunt him out, if the loiterſacke be gone ſpringing into a tauerne, Ile fetch him reeling out.
- To mitigate; to reduce the strength of. Ne did ſhe let dull ſleepe once to relent, / Nor wearineſſe to ſlack her haſt, but fled / Euer alike,[…].
- To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake. Lime slacks.
- To refuse to work as hard as one is supposed to. I can't afford to slack. This job is all I have!
slack³
- /slæk/
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
Either from the adjective in Etymology 1 or the verb in Etymology 2.
noun slacks
- A temporary speed restriction where track maintenance or engineering work is being carried out at a particular place. This pitfall, beginning in February and finishing in May, resulted in a drop of about 3 ft. in the platform level; during this period it was necessary to level the track three times weekly, and impose a service slack of 15 m.p.h. The subsidence appears now to have finished, and normal speed is once
slack⁴
- /slæk/
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
From Middle English slak, from Old Norse slakki (“a slope”). Cognate with Icelandic slakki, Norwegian slakke.
noun slacks
- A valley, or small, shallow dell; a sag or saddle in a ridge. Red Ringan sped, and the spearmen led, Up Goranberry Slack; Aye, many a wight, unmatched in fight, Who never more came back. And bloody set the westering sun, And bloody rose he up; […]
- 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.
slack⁵
- /slæk/
Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
Of unknown origin. Possibly related to Middle Dutch slacke or Middle Low German slecke. Doublet of slag.
noun
-
Small coal; coal dust.
One of the important improvements of recent years has been attained by mixing the peat pulp as it passes through the grinding machine, with other inflammable materials, such as bituminous coal dust, or slack […]
Similar: culm
Slack⁶
Where it comes from
* As an English and Dutch surname, from the adjective slack.
* Also as an English surname, from the noun slack (“shallow valley”).
* Possibly also a Slovene surname Americanized from slak (“bindweed”), from Proto-Slavic *sъvolkъ.
* The name of the software is an acronym of Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge.
proper noun Slacks
- A surname.
- A hamlet in Ashover parish, North East Derbyshire district, Derbyshire (OS grid ref SK3362).
- A hamlet in Heptonstall parish, Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, West Yorkshire (OS grid ref SD9828).
- A hamlet in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, near Outlane, West Yorkshire (OS grid ref SE0817).
- A real-time collaboration app and platform launched in 2013. On Slack, the employees of Strategic Programming chattered about metadata tagging issues.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: slow, slack off, slow up, slow down, slacken, abate, let up, die away, weak, falloff, limp, flaccid, slump, loose, negligent, drop-off
Translations
Every language
noun small coal, coal dust
| Español | carbonilla, carboncillo, cisco |
|---|---|
| Français | gravier |
| Deutsch | Schlacke |
| Italiano | carbonella, polverino |
| Русский | у́гольная пы́ль úgolʹnaja pýlʹ |
noun loose part of anything
| Русский | слабина́ slabiná |
|---|
noun small shallow dell or valley
| Deutsch | Senke |
|---|
adj not tense
| Español | flojo, holgado, suelto |
|---|---|
| Français | lâche |
| Deutsch | schlaff, lose |
| Italiano | allentato |
| Русский | рассла́бленный rassláblennyj, ненатя́нутый nenatjánutyj |
adj not using due diligence or care
| Deutsch | trödelig, schlampig, lasch |
|---|---|
| Русский | небре́жный nebréžnyj |
verb to procrastinate
| Español | haraganear, flojear |
|---|---|
| Português | enrolar |
| Français | glander |
| Deutsch | trödeln, bummeln, faulenzen, faul sein |
| Русский | ло́дырничать lódyrničatʹ, безде́льничать bezdélʹničatʹ, сачкова́ть sačkovátʹ |
verb to refuse to exert effort
| Español | aflojarse, relajarse, estar a la bartola, flojear, aflojar, huevonear |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | (anstrengende) Arbeit scheuen |
| Русский | лени́ться lenítʹsja |
Talk about this word "slack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/slack. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. slack. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/slack "slack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/slack.Cite this
@misc{slack_2026,
title = {slack},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/slack},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
