Part 454

2. Sloppy; slimy; miry. See Sloppy. Gay.

Slab"-sid`ed (?), a. Having flat sides; hence, tall, or long and lank. [Colloq. U. S.]

Slack (?), n. [Cf. Slag.] Small coal; also, coal dust; culm. Raymond.

Slack, n. [Icel. slakki a slope on a mountain edge.] A valley, or small, shallow dell. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.

Slack, a. [Compar. Slacker (?); superl. Slackest.] [OE. slak, AS. sleac; akin to OS. slak, OHG. slah, Prov. G. schlack, Icel. slakr, Sw. slak; cf. Skr. sj to let loose, to throw. Cf. Slake.] Lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended; as, a slack rope.

2. Weak; not holding fast; as, a slack hand. Milton.

3. Remiss; backward; not using due diligence or care; not earnest or eager; as, slack in duty or service.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness.

2 Pet. iii. 9.

4. Not violent, rapid, or pressing; slow; moderate; easy; as, business is slack. "With slack pace." Chaucer.

C&?;sar . . . about sunset, hoisting sail with a slack southwest, at midnight was becalmed.

Milton.

Slack in stays (Naut.), slow in going about, as a ship. -- Slack water, the time when the tide runs slowly, or the water is at rest; or the interval between the flux and reflux of the tide. -- Slack-water navigation, navigation in a stream the depth of which has been increased, and the current diminished, by a dam or dams.

Syn. -- Loose; relaxed; weak; remiss; backward; abated; diminished; inactive; slow; tardy; dull.

Slack (?), adv. Slackly; as, slack dried hops.

Slack, n. The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it; as, the slack of a rope or of a sail.

{ Slack (?), Slack"en (?), } v. i. [imp. & p. p. Slacked (?), Slackened (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Slacking, Slackening.] [See Slack, a.] 1. To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather.

2. To be remiss or backward; to be negligent.

3. To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake; as, lime slacks.

4. To abate; to become less violent.

Whence these raging fires Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames.

Milton.

5. To lose rapidity; to become more slow; as, a current of water slackens.

6. To languish; to fail; to flag.

7. To end; to cease; to desist; to slake. [Obs.]

That through your death your lineage should slack.

Chaucer.

They will not of that firste purpose slack.