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Webster 1913 Edition
Slacken
{
Slack
,Slack′en
, }Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Slacked
, Slackened
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Slacking
, Slackening
.] [See ]
Slack
, Adj.
1.
To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to decrease in tension;
as, a wet cord
. slackens
in dry weather2.
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
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
. Chaucer.
{
Slack
,Slack′en
, }Verb.
T.
1.
To render slack; to make less tense or firm;
as, to
. slack
a rope; to slacken
a bandageWycklif (Acts xxvii. 40)
2.
To neglect; to be remiss in.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Slack
not the pressage. Dryden.
3.
To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake;
as, to
. slack
lime4.
To cause to become less eager; to repress; to make slow or less rapid; to retard;
“Rancor for to slack.” as, to
. slacken
pursuit; to slacken
industryChaucer.
I should be grieved, young prince, to think my presence
Unbent your thoughts, and
Unbent your thoughts, and
slackened
’em to arms. Addison.
In this business of growing rich, poor men should
slack
their pace. South.
With such delay
Well plased, they
Well plased, they
slack
their course. Milton.
5.
To cause to become less intense; to mitigate; to abate; to ease.
To respite, or deceive, or
Of this ill mansion.
slack
thy painOf this ill mansion.
Milton.
Air-slacked lime
, lime slacked by exposure to the air, in consequence of the absorption of carton dioxide and water, by which it is converted into carbonate of lime and hydrate of lime.
Slack′en
,Noun.
(Metal.)
A spongy, semivitrifled substance which miners or smelters mix with the ores of metals to prevent their fusion.
[Written also
slakin
.] Webster 1828 Edition
Slacken
SLACK'EN
,Noun.
Definition 2024
slacken
slacken
English
Verb
slacken (third-person singular simple present slackens, present participle slackening, simple past and past participle slackened)
- (intransitive) To gradually decrease in intensity or tautness; to become slack.
- The pace slackened.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,
- During this interlude, Warwick, though he had slackened his pace measurably, had so nearly closed the gap between himself and them as to hear the old woman say, with the dulcet negro intonation:...
- 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
- He seemed tired, and the Rat let him rest unquestioned, understanding something of what was in his thoughts; knowing, too, the value all animals attach at times to mere silent companionship, when the weary muscles slacken and the mind marks time.
- (transitive) To make slack, less taut, or less intense.
- 1986, Mari Sandoz, The Horsecatcher
- Elk slackened the rope so he could walk farther away, and together they went awkwardly up the trail toward the grassy little flat...
- 1986, Mari Sandoz, The Horsecatcher
- To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake.
- to slack lime
Related terms
Translations
(intransitive) to gradually decrease in intensity
(transitive) to gradually decrease in intensity
to make less taut
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