take up the slack
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.71 in modern English
29
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To act as a slack variable, converting an inequality into an equality.
verb
To consume something that would otherwise go to waste.
Example Sentences
- "You need to take up the slack in your cables so shifters and brakes function properly."
- "To tighten the wire, thread a stick through both loops of wire; by twisting the stick you will take up the slack in the wires, pulling them taut."
- "The engines laboured, straining between the forces of tide and wind to take up the slack on the huge chains and pull the ferry across the water."
- "A production never has enough time or enough money. Someone has to take up the slack."
- "When fighting at the front grew intense and casualties got heavy, traveling teams of surgeons were called in temporarily to take up the slack."
- "It is not unusual in turnaround situations for the turnaround manager to eliminate up to 20 percent of the jobs within the company. Is that tough? Of course it is, and the people who remain have to take up the slack, but it is far more preferable than closing the doors."
Inflected Forms
Phrases
take it from here
take it from there
Frequently Paired Words
take it from here
take it from there