SLACKS

slacks

(noun) (used in the plural) pants for casual wear

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Proper noun

Slacks

plural of Slack

Noun

slacks

plural of slack

Noun

slacks pl (plural only)

(dated) Semi-formal trousers that are less formal than those part of a suit but suitable for wearing in most offices and therefore nowadays no longer considered casual trousers. (Takes a plural verb even when referring to a single pair; may be referred to as a pair of slacks)

Usage notes

The term is old-fashioned and now used mostly by older people and by the clothing industry in the US. (It was never common in British English.) Despite being no longer considered casual clothing, they are incorrectly still defined as casual trousers by all major American and British dictionaries.

Verb

slacks

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of slack

Source: Wiktionary


SLACK

Slack, n. Etym: [Cf. Slag.]

Definition: Small coal; also, coal dust; culm. Raymond.

Slack, n. Etym: [Icel. slakki a slope on a mountain edge.]

Definition: A valley, or small, shallow dell. [Prov. Eng.] Grose.

Slack, a. [Compar. Slacker; superl. Slackest.] Etym: [OE. slak, AS. sleac; akin to OS. slak, OHG. slah, Prov. G. schlack, Icel. slakr, Sw. slak; cf. Skr. srsj to let loose, to throw. Cf. Slake.]

Definition: 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. Cslack 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.

Definition: Slackly; as, slack dried hops.

Slack, n.

Definition: 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.] Etym: [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. Chaucer.

Slack, Slack"en, v. t.

1. To render slack; to make less tense or firm; as, to slack a rope; to slacken a bandage. Wycklif (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 lime.

4. To cause to become less eager; to repress; to make slow or less rapid; to retard; as, to slacken pursuit; to slacken industry. "Rancor for to slack." Chaucer. I should be grieved, young prince, to think my presence 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 slack their course. Milton.

5. To cause to become less intense; to mitigate; to abate; to ease. To respite, or deceive, or slack thy pain Of 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

31 January 2025

DISPERSION

(noun) the act of dispersing or diffusing something; “the dispersion of the troops”; “the diffusion of knowledge”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee starts as a yellow berry, changes into a red berry, and then is picked by hand to harvest. The red berry is de-shelled through a water soaking process and what’s left inside is the green coffee bean. This bean then dries in the sun for 3-5 days, where it is then packed and ready for sale.

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