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slake

[sleyk]
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verb (used with object), slaked, slak·ing.
  1. to allay (thirst, desire, wrath, etc.) by satisfying.
  2. to cool or refresh: He slaked his lips with ice.
  3. to make less active, vigorous, intense, etc.: His calm manner slaked their enthusiasm.
  4. to cause disintegration of (lime) by treatment with water.Compare slaked lime.
  5. Obsolete. to make loose or less tense; slacken.
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verb (used without object), slaked, slak·ing.
  1. (of lime) to become slaked.
  2. Archaic. to become less active, intense, vigorous, etc.; abate.
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Origin of slake

before 1000; Middle English slaken to mitigate, allay, moderate, lessen one's efforts, Old English slacian to slacken, lessen one's efforts, equivalent to slæc slack1 + -ian causative verb suffix
Related formsslak·a·ble, slake·a·ble, adjectiveslake·less, adjectiveun·slak·a·ble, adjectiveun·slake·a·ble, adjectiveun·slaked, adjective

Synonyms

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1. satisfy, quench, gratify, relieve.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

quench, assuage, appease, satisfy, gratify, mitigate, loose, slack, subdue, relax, lessen, relaxed, relieve, reduce, refresh, crumble, compose, abate, disintegrate, allay

Examples from the Web for slake

Historical Examples

  • Blake descended on the other side, to water his horse and slake his own thirst.

    Out of the Depths

    Robert Ames Bennet

  • There were no trees to give the men shade, or springs to slake their thirst.

    A Soldier's Life

    Edwin G. Rundle

  • No "Coaley" was ever let to slake his thirst at the Stag o' Tyne.

  • But even now, hot and weary, he refused adequately to slake his thirst.

    Omega, the Man

    Lowell Howard Morrow

  • On arrival at the underwood, all dismount; but only to slake their thirst, as that of their horses.

    The Death Shot

    Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for slake

slake

verb
  1. (tr) literary to satisfy (thirst, desire, etc)
  2. (tr) poetic to cool or refresh
  3. Also: slack to undergo or cause to undergo the process in which lime reacts with water or moist air to produce calcium hydroxide
  4. archaic to make or become less active or intense
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Derived Formsslakable or slakeable, adjectiveslaker, noun

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for slake

v.

late Old English sleacian, slacian "become slack or remiss; slacken an effort" (intransitive); "delay, retard" (transitive), from slæc "lax" (see slack (adj.)). Transitive sense of "make slack" is from late 12c. Sense of "allay, diminish in force, quench, extinguish" (in reference to thirst, hunger, desire, wrath, etc.) first recorded early 14c. via notion of "make slack or inactive." Related: Slaked; slaking.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper