slack
    adj 1: not tense or taut; "the old man's skin hung loose and
           grey"; "slack and wrinkled skin"; "slack sails"; "a slack
           rope" [syn: loose, slack]
    2: flowing with little speed as e.g. at the turning of the tide;
       "slack water"
    3: lacking in rigor or strictness; "such lax and slipshod ways
       are no longer acceptable"; "lax in attending classes"; "slack
       in maintaining discipline" [syn: lax, slack]
    n 1: dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and
         coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over
         a sieve
    2: a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality; "the
       team went into a slump"; "a gradual slack in output"; "a
       drop-off in attendance"; "a falloff in quality" [syn:
       slump, slack, drop-off, falloff, falling off]
    3: a stretch of water without current or movement; "suddenly
       they were in a slack and the water was motionless" [syn:
       slack, slack water]
    4: a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot [syn:
       mire, quagmire, quag, morass, slack]
    5: the quality of being loose (not taut); "he hadn't counted on
       the slackness of the rope" [syn: slack, slackness]
    6: a cord or rope or cable that is hanging loosely; "he took up
       the slack"
    v 1: avoid responsibilities and work, be idle
    2: be inattentive to, or neglect; "He slacks his attention"
    3: release tension on; "slack the rope"
    4: make less active or fast; "He slackened his pace as he got
       tired"; "Don't relax your efforts now" [syn: slack,
       slacken, slack up, relax]
    5: become slow or slower; "Production slowed" [syn: slow,
       slow down, slow up, slack, slacken]
    6: make less active or intense [syn: slake, abate, slack]
    7: become less in amount or intensity; "The storm abated"; "The
       rain let up after a few hours" [syn: abate, let up,
       slack off, slack, die away]
    8: cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water; "slack
       lime" [syn: slack, slake]

Slack \Slack\, a. [Compar. Slacker; superl. Slackest.] [OE.
   slak, AS. sleac; akin to OS. slak, OHG. slah, Prov. G.
   schlack, Icel. slakr, Sw. slak; cf. Skr. s[.r]j to let loose,
   to throw. Cf. Slake.]
   Lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended; as, a
   slack rope.
   [1913 Webster]

   2. Weak; not holding fast; as, a slack hand. --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Remiss; backward; not using due diligence or care; not
      earnest or eager; as, slack in duty or service.
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            The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as
            some men count slackness.             --2 Pet. iii.
                                                  9.
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   4. Not violent, rapid, or pressing; slow; moderate; easy; as,
      business is slack. "With slack pace." --Chaucer.
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            C?sar . . . about sunset, hoisting sail with a slack
            southwest, at midnight was becalmed.  --Milton.
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   Slack in stays (Naut.), slow in going about, as a ship.

   Slack water, the time when the tide runs slowly, or the
      water is at rest; or the interval between the flux and
      reflux of the tide.

   Slack-water navigation, navigation in a stream the depth of
      which has been increased, and the current diminished, by a
      dam or dams.
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   Syn: Loose; relaxed; weak; remiss; backward; abated;
        diminished; inactive; slow; tardy; dull.
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Slack \Slack\, n. [Cf. Slag.]
   Small coal; also, coal dust; culm. --Raymond.
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Slack \Slack\, n. [Icel. slakki a slope on a mountain edge.]
   A valley, or small, shallow dell. [Prov. Eng.] --Grose.
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Slack \Slack\, Slacken \Slack"en\, v. t.
   1. To render slack; to make less tense or firm; as, to slack
      a rope; to slacken a bandage. --Wycklif (Acts xxvii. 40)
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   2. To neglect; to be remiss in. [Obs.] --Shak.
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            Slack not the pressage.               --Dryden.
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   3. To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water;
      to slake; as, to slack lime.
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   4. To cause to become less eager; to repress; to make slow or
      less rapid; to retard; as, to slacken pursuit; to slacken
      industry. "Rancor for to slack." --Chaucer.
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            I should be grieved, young prince, to think my
            presence
            Unbent your thoughts, and slackened 'em to arms.
                                                  --Addison.
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            In this business of growing rich, poor men should
            slack their pace.                     --South.
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            With such delay
            Well plased, they slack their course. --Milton.
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   5. To cause to become less intense; to mitigate; to abate; to
      ease.
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            To respite, or deceive, or slack thy pain
            Of this ill mansion.                  --Milton.
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   Air-slacked lime, lime slacked by exposure to the air, in
      consequence of the absorption of carton dioxide and water,
      by which it is converted into carbonate of lime and
      hydrate of lime.
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Slack \Slack\, adv.
   Slackly; as, slack dried hops.
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Slack \Slack\, n.
   The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon
   it; as, the slack of a rope or of a sail.
   [1913 Webster] Slack

Slack \Slack\, Slacken \Slack"en\, v. i. [imp. & p. p.
   Slacked, Slackened; p. pr. & vb. n. Slacking,
   Slackening.] [See Slack, a.]
   1. To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to
      decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry
      weather.
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   2. To be remiss or backward; to be negligent.
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   3. To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination
      with water; to slake; as, lime slacks.
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   4. To abate; to become less violent.
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            Whence these raging fires
            Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames.
                                                  --Milton.
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   5. To lose rapidity; to become more slow; as, a current of
      water slackens.
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   6. To languish; to fail; to flag.
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   7. To end; to cease; to desist; to slake. [Obs.]
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            That through your death your lineage should slack.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            They will not of that firste purpose slack.
                                                  --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster] Slack

slack
 n.

    1. Space allocated to a disk file but not actually used to store useful
    information. The techspeak equivalent is ?internal fragmentation?. Antonym:
    hole.

    2. In the theology of the Church of the SubGenius, a mystical substance
    or quality that is the prerequisite of all human happiness.

    Since Unix files are stored compactly, except for the unavoidable wastage
    in the last block or fragment, it might be said that ?Unix has no slack?.
    See ha ha only serious.

slack

   1.  Internal fragmentation.  Space allocated
   to a disk file but not actually used to store useful
   information.

   2.  In the theology of the Church of the SubGenius,
   a mystical substance or quality that is the prerequisite of
   all human happiness.

   Since Unix files are stored compactly, except for the
   unavoidable wastage in the last block or fragment, it might be
   said that "Unix has no slack".

   See ha ha only serious.

   [Jargon File]

   (1995-03-01)