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# slack

«slack» in Mova's school dictionary: **loose, not pulled tight: a slack rope** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (slack, slacker, slackest); noun (slack — uncountable); verb (slack, slacks, slacked, slacking; slack off); plural noun slacks (trousers)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Slack means loose, not pulled tight: a slack rope. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#m1)

2) Slack means not busy: business is slack in winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#m2)

3) (informal) Slack means lazy or careless: slack work. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#m3)

4) To slack or slack off is to work less hard than you should. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#m4)

5) (informal) "Cut someone some slack" means be less strict and more forgiving with them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#m5)

6) (UK slang) "That's slack" can mean unfair or mean. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#m6)

7) Slacks are casual trousers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#m7)

### sense in the lessons

In science and PE, a rope or string that is slack hangs loose, while a taut one is tight; a slack tightrope wobbles. In school, a teacher may say "Don't slack off before the test." In everyday talk, "Give him some slack, he's new" asks for patience. Slack is also the name of a messaging app.

### examples

- The rope went slack when he let go. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x1)
- Pull the washing line tight so it isn't slack. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x2)
- Business at the ice-cream van is slack in winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x3)
- Stop slacking and finish your homework! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x4)
- Cut her some slack — she's had a hard week. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x5)
- (UK slang) "You ate all the sweets? That's slack!" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x6)
- Dad wore smart slacks to the party. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x7)
- The coach told us not to slack off in training. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x8)
- Fear fell llke night around the Fianna, and they stood with slack knees and hanging hands waiting for death. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/#x9)

### note

Opposite of slack (loose) is taut or tight. Person who slacks: a slacker. "Slacks" (trousers) is always plural. "Slack" for unfair is mild slang in the UK and Ireland.

### In the corpora

- [Therefore shall all hands be slack, and every heart of man shall melt.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ISA.283/)
- [All hands shall be slack, and all knees shall drip with water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/EZK.136/)
- [In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: 'Fear thou not; O Zion, let not thy hands be slack.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/ZEP.50/)
- [He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.262/)
- [Even one that is slack in his work is brother to him that is a destroyer.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.513/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «slack» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slack/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.