slake

[ sleyk ]

See synonyms for: slake slaking on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),slaked, slak·ing.

to allay (thirst, desire, wrath, etc.) by satisfying.
to cool or refresh: He slaked his lips with ice.

to make less active, vigorous, intense, etc.: His calm manner slaked their enthusiasm.
to cause disintegration of (lime) by treatment with water.: Compare slaked lime.
to moisten; wet: To thicken the sauce, add a tablespoon of cornstarch slaked with a little cold water.
Obsolete. to make loose or less tense; slacken.

verb (used without object),slaked, slak·ing.

(of lime) to become slaked.
Archaic. to become less active, intense, vigorous, etc.; abate.

Origin of slake

First recorded before 1000; Middle English slaken, slakken, slake “to loosen, lessen, mitigate, allay, moderate,” Old English slacian, slæcian, sleacian “to slacken, lessen one's efforts,” equivalent to slæc “inactive, careless, languid” + -ian causative verb suffix; see origin at slack¹

Other words for slake

1	satisfy, quench, gratify, relieve

See synonyms for slake on Thesaurus.com

Other words from slake

slak·a·ble, slake·a·ble, adjective
slake·less, adjective
un·slak·a·ble, adjective
un·slake·a·ble, adjective
un·slaked, adjective

Words Nearby slake

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use slake in a sentence

The other leaves specialize in absorbing water, to slake a tree’s thirst.
Some redwood leaves make food while others drink water | Sofia Quaglia | May 27, 2022 | Science News For Students
A Long Island pioneer winery brings us a top-notch crisp and juicy rosé to slake our thirst and cut through the summer’s heat.
You’ll want to sip this sustainably made rosé all through the summer | Dave McIntyre | July 23, 2021 | Washington Post
Using them, nest fronds can share their water, slaking the thirst of neighboring strap fronds.
These ferns may be first plants known to work together as ants do | Jake Buehler | July 1, 2021 | Science News For Students
Previous research by other scientists found networks of roots running throughout the colony, which means that nest fronds have the ability to slake strap fronds’ thirst.
These ferns may be the first plants known to share work like ants | Jake Buehler | June 7, 2021 | Science News
There’s also a page of wineries that will send us wines and schedule online virtual tastings to slake our thirst and whet our appetites for when we can get there in person.
Is your favorite imported wine low in stock? Blame the pandemic. | Dave McIntyre | April 9, 2021 | Washington Post

The fevered mules plunged in headlong and drank greedily; the riders were perforce obliged to slake their thirst after them.
Overland | John William De Forest
An old gray-headed man tottered forward to slake his burning thirst.
The Pickwick Papers | Charles Dickens
In good sooth ye do,” cried Biarne, with a laugh; “a mouse could hardly slake his thirst with all that you have yet imbibed.
The Norsemen in the West | R.M. Ballantyne
Would I be the tiger, blind with desire of blood leaping at the wild-deer's throat, to slake a cruel thirst?
Sarchedon | G. J. (George John) Whyte-Melville
The sun was excessively hot, and at every rivulet that I crossed I stopped to slake my thirst.
Letters from the Alleghany Mountains | Charles Lanman

British Dictionary definitions for slake

slake

/ (sleɪk) /

verb

(tr) literary to satisfy (thirst, desire, etc)
(tr) poetic to cool or refresh

Also: slack to undergo or cause to undergo the process in which lime reacts with water or moist air to produce calcium hydroxide
archaic to make or become less active or intense

Origin of slake

Old English slacian, from slæc slack 1; related to Dutch slaken to diminish, Icelandic slaka

Derived forms of slake

slakable or slakeable, adjective
slaker, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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