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Lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended; as, a slack rope.

To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather.

A spongy, semivitrifled substance which miners or smelters mix with the ores of metals to prevent their fusion. [Written also slakin.]

In a slack manner. Trench.

The quality or state of being slack.

Slacked, or pulverized, by exposure to the air; as, air-slacked lime.

See Forslack.

To neglect by idleness; to delay or to waste by sloth. [Obs.] Spenser.

Not slacked; unslaked; as, unslacked lime.

hen it hooks, or is entangled with, another anchor, or with a cable or wreck, or when the slack cable entangled. -- The anchor is acockbill, when it is suspended perpendicularly from the cathead, ready to be let go. -- The anchor is apeak, when the cable is drawn in do tight as to bring to ship directly over it. --…

Whatever is thrown back in its course, as water. Slackwater, or the backset caused by the overflow. Harper's Mag.

To put round the bitts; as, to bitt the cable, in order to fasten it or to slacken it gradually, which is called veering away. Totten.

. -- Submarine cable. See Telegraph. -- To pay out the cable, To veer out the cable, to slacken it, that it may run out of the ship; to let more cable run out of the hawse hole. -- To serve the cable, to bind it round with ropes, canvas, etc., to prevent its being, worn or galled in the hawse, et. -- To slip the ca…

to prepare the for use, by putting the bars in the sockets. -- To surge the capstan, to slack the tension of the rope or cable wound around it.

To slack or ease off, as a brace which is too stiffly extended.

, as a fashion. -- To come up the capstan (Naut.), to turn it the contrary way, so as to slacken the rope about it. -- To come up the tackle fall (Naut.), to slacken the tackle gently. Totten. -- To come up to, to rise to; to equal. -- To come up with, to overtake or reach by pursuit. -- To come upon. (a) To befal…

pose. [Obs.] The operation of the masculine faculties of the soul were, for a while, well slacked and consopited. Dr. H. More.

Worsted yarn,, slackly twisted, used for embroidery.

Suspicion; fear; apprehension; dread. [Obs.] I stand in doubt of you. Gal. iv. 20. Nor slack her threatful hand for danger's doubt. Spenser.

To strike or lower in haste; to slacken suddenly; as, douse the topsail.