slacken : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: slacken	by the DICT Development Group
4 results for slacken
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
slacken v become slow or slower; "Production slowed" [syn: slow, slow down, slow up, slack, slacken] make less active or fast; "He slackened his pace as he got tired"; "Don't relax your efforts now" Synonym(s): slack, slacken, slack up, relax become looser or slack; "the rope slackened" make slack as by lessening tension or firmness Synonym(s): slacken, remit
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
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. 2. To be remiss or backward; to be negligent. 3. To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake; as, lime slacks. 4. To abate; to become less violent. Whence these raging fires Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames. --Milton. 5. To lose rapidity; to become more slow; as, a current of water slackens. 6. To languish; to fail; to flag. 7. To end; to cease; to desist; to slake. [Obs.] That through your death your lineage should slack. --Chaucer. They will not of that firste purpose slack. --Chaucer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Slacken \Slack"en\, n. (Metal.) A spongy, semivitrifled substance which miners or smelters mix with the ores of metals to prevent their fusion. [Written also {slakin}.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
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) 2. To neglect; to be remiss in. [Obs.] --Shak. Slack not the pressage. --Dryden. 3. To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake; as, to slack lime. 4. To cause to become less eager; to repress; to make slow or less rapid; to retard; as, to slacken pursuit; to slacken industry. [bd]Rancor for to slack.[b8] --Chaucer. I should be grieved, young prince, to think my presence Unbent your thoughts, and slackened 'em to arms. --Addison. In this business of growing rich, poor men should slack their pace. --South. With such delay Well plased, they slack their course. --Milton. 5. To cause to become less intense; to mitigate; to abate; to ease. To respite, or deceive, or slack thy pain Of this ill mansion. --Milton. {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.