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}]
n 1: a noticeable decline in performance: "the team went into a
slump"; "a sudden slack in output"; "a drop-off in
attendance"; "a falloff in automobile sales" [syn: {slump},
{drop-off}, {falloff}, {falling off}]
2: a stretch of water without current or movement; "suddenly
they were in slack water"
3: the condition of being loose (not taut); "he hadn't counted
on the slackness of the rope" [syn: {slackness}]
4: a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely; "he took of
the slack"
v 1: avoid responsibilities and work, be idle
2: be inattentive to, or neglect, as of duties: "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" [syn: {slacken}, {slack up}]
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" [syn:
{abate}, {let up}, {slack off}, {die away}]
8: cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water, as of
lime [syn: {slake}]