Meaning

9 senses

  1. (uncountable)The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.

    the slack of a rope or of a sail

    take in the slack

    Schlacke

    слабина́slabiná, у́гольная пы́льúgolʹnaja pýlʹ

  2. (countable, uncountable)A dip in a surface.

  3. (countable, uncountable)In particular, a shallow dell or hollow; a dip in the surface of terrain, such as between hills.

    Marsch, Senke

  4. (countable)A low-lying marsh or a pool, especially a tidal or intermittent one which periodically fills and drains.

  5. (uncountable)Unconditional listening attention given by client to patient.

  6. A temporary speed restriction where track maintenance or engineering work is being carried out at a particular place.

  7. (countable)A valley, or small, shallow dell; a sag or saddle in a ridge.

  8. A flat-bottomed, hollow zone within a sand-dune system that has developed over impervious strata, sometimes due to erosion or blow-out of the dune system; its flat base level is therefore close to or at the permanent water-table level, and therefore has rich, marshy flora, with Salix species (willows) as typical woody colonisers.

  9. (uncountable)Small coal; coal dust.

    dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve

Examples

74 sentences

  1. We need to cut Tom some slack.

    Нам потрібно дати Тому поблажку. — deniko

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Tom didn't cut Mary any slack.

    ruТом не давал Мэри ни единой поблажки. — sharptoothed

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. You should cut Tom some slack.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Why don't you cut Tom some slack?

    deWarum bist du bei Tom nicht etwas nachsichtig? — Tamy

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Why don't we cut Tom some slack?

    ruПочему бы нам не быть снисходительней к Тому? — Ooneykcall

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

5 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
loose part of anything:
small coal, coal dust:
Deutsch
By meaning 3
small coal, coal dust:
tidal marsh or periodically filling shallow:
small shallow dell or valley:

Origin

From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. Fo

From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. For sense of coal dust, compare slag.

Either from the adjective in Etymology 1 or the verb in Etymology 2.

From Middle English slak, from Old Norse slakki (“a slope”). Cognate with Icelandic slakki, Norwegian slakke.

Of unknown origin. Possibly related to Middle Dutch slacke or Middle Low German slecke. Doublet of slag.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: slacks
Singularslack
Pluralslacks

regular

Synonyms

12 synonyms
tidal marsh:slough
culm
Close in meaning
  • the quality of being loose (not taut):slackness
  • a stretch of water without current or movement:slack water
  • a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality:slumpdrop-offfallofffalling off
  • a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot:mirequagmirequagmorass

Word family

3 related words
Derivedslack suitnutty slackslack tub

Lessons for this word

1 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
skywalkerslabC2slackenslackerslackline

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

slack — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto