slack

Everyday

1. Slack means loose, not pulled tight: a slack rope. tree →
2. Slack means not busy: business is slack in winter. tree →
3. (informal) Slack means lazy or careless: slack work. tree →
4. To slack or slack off is to work less hard than you should. tree →
5. (informal) "Cut someone some slack" means be less strict and more forgiving with them. tree →
6. (UK slang) "That's slack" can mean unfair or mean. tree →
7. Slacks are casual trousers. tree →

In the lessons

In science and PE, a rope or string that is slack hangs loose, while a taut one is tight; a slack tightrope wobbles. In school, a teacher may say "Don't slack off before the test." In everyday talk, "Give him some slack, he's new" asks for patience. Slack is also the name of a messaging app.

Examples

• The rope went slack when he let go. tree →
• Pull the washing line tight so it isn't slack. tree →
• Business at the ice-cream van is slack in winter. tree →
• Stop slacking and finish your homework! tree →
• Cut her some slack — she's had a hard week. tree →
• (UK slang) "You ate all the sweets? That's slack!" tree →
• Dad wore smart slacks to the party. tree →
• The coach told us not to slack off in training. tree →
• Fear fell llke night around the Fianna, and they stood with slack knees and hanging hands waiting for death. tree →

Note

Opposite of slack (loose) is taut or tight. Person who slacks: a slacker. "Slacks" (trousers) is always plural. "Slack" for unfair is mild slang in the UK and Ireland.

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah being slack means being slow or late to do something promised. In the prophets "hands are slack" means hands that grow weak and limp from fear. In Proverbs a slack worker is lazy or careless.

Interpretation. Tradition teaches that a vow made to God should be paid without delay. The tradition reads the prophets' slack hands as the people's fear and helplessness on the day of God's judgment. Proverbs teaches that laziness is close to destruction.

Examples

• and repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them; He will not be slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his face. (Torah DEU.7.10, JPS 1917) tree →
• When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it; for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it will be sin in thee. (Torah DEU.23.21, JPS 1917) tree →
• All hands shall be slack, and all knees shall drip with water. (Prophets EZK.7.17, JPS 1917) tree →
• Therefore shall all hands be slack, and every heart of man shall melt. (Prophets ISA.13.7, JPS 1917) tree →
• Even one that is slack in his work is brother to him that is a destroyer. (Writings PRO.18.9, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Opposite of slack (loose) is taut or tight. Person who slacks: a slacker. "Slacks" (trousers) is always plural. "Slack" for unfair is mild slang in the UK and Ireland.