slack
/slæk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.71 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
In particular, a shallow dell or hollow; a dip in the surface of terrain, such as between hills.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A low-lying marsh or a pool, especially a tidal or intermittent one which periodically fills and drains.
Countable
adj
Weak; not holding fast.
Example Sentences
- "the slack of a rope or of a sail"
- "take in the slack"
- "Richardson states that a low joint, a short distance from Haslam's Creek Bridge, was, in his opinion, the cause of the accident. […] [He] told Morgan, the Permanent Way Inspector, that there was a "slack" in the road on the Parramatta side of Haslam's Creek Bridge, […] I can positively state […] There was no such slack. The road was in as good running condition as I would wish to see any road. On all lines of course there are slacks, but not slacks of a serious nature; and that there was any such slack or depression in the rails as spoken of by Richardson I positively deny."
- "[…] a road may be kept up to approximately the same level at all times, and a fair surface maintained by rolling in large patches occasionally, as well as opening slacks in the road when they appear and effecting petty repairs. […] a series of slacks will begin to show in the run of the wheels; or […]"
- "[…] to make good the voids under the sleeper […] to take out "slacks" in the rail level […]"
- "Cauldstane Slap, or rather Slack, is a much frequented pass, through which the periodical droves of black cattle are transported into England."
Etymology
From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. For sense of coal dust, compare slag.