OTHER WORDS FOR slack
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Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Idioms about slack
- to pull in or make taut a loose section of a rope, line, wire, etc.: Take up the slack before releasing the kite.
- to provide or compensate for something that is missing or incomplete: New sources of oil will take up the slack resulting from the embargo.
take up the slack,
Origin of slack
1First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective slak(e), slakke, Old English slæc, sleac; cognate with Old Norse slakr, Old High German slach, Latin laxus lax
OTHER WORDS FROM slack
Other definitions for slack (2 of 2)
slack2
[ slak ]
/ slæk /
noun
the fine screenings of coal.
Origin of slack
2First recorded in 1200–50; of uncertain origin; compare Middle English sleck “mud, slush, stony soil,” Flemish slecke, Middle Dutch slacke, slecke, Dutch slak, Low German slak(ke), German Schlacke “dross (of metal)”
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use slack in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for slack (1 of 2)
See also slacks
Derived forms of slack
slackly, adverbslackness, nounWord Origin for slack
Old English slæc, sleac; related to Old High German slah, Old Norse slākr bad, Latin laxus lax
British Dictionary definitions for slack (2 of 2)
slack2
/ (slæk) /
noun
small pieces of coal with a high ash content
Word Origin for slack
C15: probably from Middle Low German slecke; related to Dutch slak, German Schlacke dross
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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