slake

[ sleyk ]

/ sleɪk /

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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.

OTHER WORDS FOR slake

1 satisfy, quench, gratify, relieve.

See synonyms for slake on Thesaurus.com

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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 FROM slake

slak·a·ble, slake·a·ble, adjectiveslake·less, adjectiveun·slak·a·ble, adjectiveun·slake·a·ble, adjective

un·slaked, adjective

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

How to use slake in a sentence

The other pandemic winners were home-delivery sites such as Drizly and Minibar, third-party services promising to slake your thirst within an hour of you placing an order over their apps.
Buying alcohol online is becoming our new normal, and these home delivery apps are cashing in|Dave McIntyre|October 30, 2020|Washington Post
It just might slake the thirst of those living in remote or dry areas.
Here’s one way to harvest water right out of the air|Sid Perkins|April 24, 2020|Science News For Students
Occasionally a rugged vat of this mud is found boiling away—very suggestive of slaking lime.
Your National Parks|Enos A. Mills
If her association with him had begotten in Lola Montez a thirst for wit and genius, she had every chance of slaking it in Paris.
Lola Montez|Edmund B. d'Auvergne

Fresh burned lime may be ground fine, so that it can be spread on land without slaking.
Right Use of Lime in Soil Improvement|Alva Agee
Burning and slaking afforded the only known method of reducing stone for use in sour soils.
Right Use of Lime in Soil Improvement|Alva Agee
Slaking, by the addition of water to the fresh burned lime, is the common method of getting the required physical condition.
Right Use of Lime in Soil Improvement|Alva Agee

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

Derived forms of slake

slakable or slakeable, adjectiveslaker, noun

Word Origin for slake

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

slake

OTHER WORDS FOR slake

Origin of slake

OTHER WORDS FROM slake

Words related to slake

How to use slake in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for slake

Derived forms of slake

Word Origin for slake