slack off

slack ¹  (slk)

adj. slack·er, slack·est

1. Moving slowly; sluggish: a slack pace.

2. Lacking in activity; not busy: a slack season for the travel business.

3. Not tense or taut; loose: a slack rope; slack muscles. See Synonyms at loose.

4. Lacking firmness; flaccid: a slack grip.

5. Lacking in diligence or due care or concern; negligent: a slack worker. See Synonyms at negligent.

6. Flowing or blowing with little speed: a slack current; slack winds.

7. Linguistics Pronounced with the muscles of the tongue and jaw relatively relaxed; lax.

v. slacked, slack·ing, slacks

v.tr.

1. To make slower or looser; slacken.

2. To be careless or remiss in doing: slack one's duty.

3. To slake (lime).

v.intr.

1. To be or become slack.

2. To evade work; shirk.

n.

1. A loose part, as of a rope or sail.

2. A lack of tension; looseness.

3. A period of little activity; a lull.

4.

a. A cessation of movement in a current of air or water.

b. An area of still water.

5. Unused capacity: still some slack in the economy.

6. slacks Casual trousers that are not part of a suit.

adv.

In a slack manner: a banner hanging slack.

Phrasal Verb:

slack off

To decrease in activity or intensity.

Idiom:

cut/give (someone) some slack

Slang To make an allowance for (someone), as in allowing more time to finish something.

---

[Middle English slak, from Old English slæc; see slg- in Indo-European roots.]

---

slackly adv.

slackness n.

---

slack ²  (slk)

n.

A mixture of coal fragments, coal dust, and dirt that remains after screening coal.

---

[Middle English sleck.]

---

slack ³  (slk)

n. Chiefly British

1. A small dell or hollow.

2. A bog; a morass.

---

[Middle English slak, from Old Norse slakki.]

Thesaurus

Verb

1.

slack off - become less in amount or intensity; "The storm abated"; "The rain let up after a few hours" die away, let up, abate, slack decrease, diminish, lessen, fall - decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fell to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper"