slab-line 
slab-line (slab'lin), n. yaut., a rope rove 
through a block on a lower yard and used to 
trice up the foot of a course, either to assist in 
furling or to lift the foot of the sail so that the 
helmsman can see under it. 
Nor must it be taken offensively that, when Kings are 
haling up their top-gallants, Subjects lay hold on their 
slablines. X. Ward, Simple Cobler, p. 50. 
slab-sided (slab'si'ded), ti. Having flat sides 
like slabs; hence, tall and lank. Also slap-sided. 
[Colloq.] 
One of those long-legged, slab-sided, lean, sunburned, 
cabbage-tree hatted lads. 
H. Kinysley, Geolfry Hamlyn, p. 353. 
You didn' chance to run ag'inst my son, 
A long, slab-sided youngster with a gun? 
Lowell, Fitz Adam's Story. 
slabstone (slab'ston), . Bock which splits 
readily into slabs or flags; flagstone. Some au- 
thors restrict the name flagstone to rock which splits 
along its planes of stratification, and call that slabstone of 
which the separation into serviceable flat tables, flags, or 
slabs is due to the development of a system of joint- or 
cleavage-planes. 
slact, ". A Middle English form of slack 1 . 
slack 1 (slak), a. and . [Early mod. E. also 
x/nk ; < ME. slac, slak, sclak, < AS. slsec, sleac, 
slack, slow, = OS. slak = D. slack, sleek = LG. 
slack = OHG. MHG. slach, G. dial, schlack, slack, 
= Icel. slakr = Sw. Dan. slak, slack, loose ; per- 
haps akin to Skt. / sarj, let flow. Some assume 
a connection with L. lanyuere, languish, laxus, 
loose (/ lag, for orig. "slag ?): see languish, lax 1 . 
Hence slack*, v., slake*, slacken 1 , etc. Cf. slack 2 , 
slag 1 . The W. yslac, distinct, loose, slack, is 
prob. < E. The words slack and slake in their 
various local or dialectal meanings are more or 
less confused with one another.] I. a. If. Slow 
in movement; tardy. 
With stake paas. Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 2043. 
For the slak payments of wages that is alwais here, he 
wol not in no wise serve any lenger. 
Sir J. StUe to Henry VIII. (Ellis's Hist. Letters, 3d ser. , 
[I. 192X 
2. Slow in flow; sluggish or at rest: as, slack 
water: specifically noting the tide, or the time 
when the tide is at rest that is, between the 
flux and reflux. 
Diligently note the time of the highest and lowest wa- 
ter in euery place, and the slake or still water of full sea. 
llakluyt's Voyage*, I. 436. 
3. Slow in action; lacking in promptness or 
diligence; negligent; remiss. 
My seruants are so slacke, his Maiestie 
Might haue been here before we were preparde 
Heywood, 1 Edw. IV. (Works, ed. Pearson, 1874, 1. 58). 
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some 
men count slackness. 2 Pet. iii. 9. 
I use divers pretences to borrow, but I am very slack to 
repay. J. Bradford, Works (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 261. 
4. Not tight ; not tense or taut ; relaxed ; loose : 
as, a slack rope; slack rigging; a slack rein; 
figuratively, languid; limp; feeble; weak. 
Those well-winged weapons, mourning as they flew, 
Slipped from the bowstring impotent and slack, 
As to the archers they would fain turn back. 
Drayton, Barons' Wars, ii. 36. 
Prom his slack hand the garland wreathed for Eve 
Down dropp'd, and all the faded roses shed. 
Milton, P. L., Ix. 892. 
5. Not compacted or firm; loose. 
Sclak sonde lymous & lene, unswete & depe. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.X p. 173. 
6. Lacking in briskness or activity ; dull : said 
especially of business. 
The messenger fortunately found Mr. Solomon Pell in 
court, regaling himself, business being rather slack, with 
the cold collation of an Abernethy biscuit and a saveloy. 
Dickens, Pickwick, Iv. 
A slack nand. See hand. Slack barrel. See barrel. 
Slack in stays (natit.), slow in going about, as a ship. 
Slacktwist. Seetwist. Slack water, (a) Ebb-tide; 
the time when the tide is out. (6) In hydraul. engin., a 
pool or pond behind a dam serving for needs of naviga- 
tion. Such ponds are used with a series of dams and locks, 
to render small streams navigable. Slack-water haul 
See fishing-place, 2.=Syn. 3. Careless, dilatory, tardy, in- 
active. 
II. n. 1. The part of a rope or the like that 
hangs loose, having no stress upon it; also, 
looseness, as of the parts of a machine. 
I could indulge him with some slack by unreeving a 
fathom of line. S. D. Blackmore, Maid of Sker, iii. 
A spring washer incloses one of the door knob shanks 
to take up any slack there may be in the parts, and insure 
a perfect fit on the door. Sci. Amer., N. 8., LXII. 197. 
2. A remission ; an interval of rest, inactivity, 
or dullness, as in trade or work; a slack period. 
Though there 's a slack, we haven't done with sharp work 
yet, I can see. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, II. xxi. 
When there is a flack, the merchants are all anxious to 
get their vessels delivered as fast as they can. 
Mayhr.u; London Labour and London Poor III "87 
357 
5681 
3. A slack-water haul of the net: as, two or 
three slacks are taken daily. 4. A long pool 
in a streamy river. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
slack 1 (slak), wlr. [< slack 1 , a.] In a slack 
manner; slowly; partially; insufliciently: as, 
slack dried hops ; bread slack baked. 
slack 1 (slak), v. [< slack 1 , a. The older form 
of the verb is slake : see slake 1 .'] I. intraus. 
1. To become slack or slow; slacken; become 
slower: as, a current of water slacks. 2. To 
become less tense, firm, or rigid ; decrease in 
tension. 
If He the bridle should let slacke, 
Then euery thing would run to wracke. 
Heywood, Hierarchy of Angels, p. 91. 
3. To abate ; become less violent. 
The storme began to slacke, otherwise we had bene in ill 
case. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 463. 
4. To become languid ; languish ; fail ; flag. 
But afterwards when charitie waxed colde, all their 
studie and trauaile in religion slacked, arid then came the 
destruction of the inhabitantes. Stow, Annals, p. 133. 
II. trans. 1 . To make slack or slow ; retard. 
2. To make slack or less tense; loosen; re- 
lax: as, to slack a rope or a bandage. 
Slack the bolins there ! Shak., Pericles, iii. 1. 43. 
Slack this bended brow, 
And shoot less scorn. B. Jonson, Catiline, ii. 1. 
Whan he came to the green grass growin', 
He slack'd his shoon and ran. 
Lady Maisry (Child's Ballads, II. 84). 
3f. To relax; let go the hold of; lose or let slip. 
Which Warner perceiving, and not willing to slack so 
good an opportunity, takes advantage of the wind. 
Eny. Stratagem (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 610). 
4. To make less intense, violent, severe, rapid, 
etc.; abate; moderate; diminish; hence, to miti- 
gate; relieve. 
As he [Ascanius] was tossed with contrary stormes and 
ceased to persuade me, euen soo slacked my f eruentnes to 
enquyre any further, vntyl the yeare of Christe. 1500. 
Peter Martyr (tr. in Eden's First Books on America, 
[ed. Arber, p. 103). 
I am nothing slow to slack his haste. 
Shak., K. and J., iv. 1. 3. 
If there be cure or charm 
To respite, or deceive, or slack the pain 
Of this ill mansion. Milton, P. L., ii. 461. 
5. To be remiss in or neglectful of; neglect. 
What a remorse of conscience shall ye have, when ye 
remember how ye have slacked your duty ! 
Latimer, Sermons, p. 231. 
When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, 
thou shalt not slack to pay it. Deut xxiii. 21. 
6f. To make remiss or neglectful. 
Not to slack you towards those friends which are re- 
ligious in other clothes than we. Donne, Letters, xxx. 
7. To slake (lime). See slake 1 , v. t., 3. 8. To 
cool in water. [Prov. Eng.] To slack away, to 
ease off freely, as a rope. To slack off, to ease off ; re- 
lieve the tension of, aa a rope. To slack out. Same 
as to slack away. to slack over the wheel, to ease the 
helm. To Slack up. (a) Same as to slack off. (b) To re- 
tard the speed of, as a railway-train. 
slack 2 (slak), re. [Prob. < G. schlacke, dross, 
slack, sediment: see slag 1 . SlackV is thus ult. 
related with slack 1 .] The finer screenings of 
coal; coal-dirt; especially, the dirt of bitumi- 
nous coal. Slack is not considered a marketable mate- 
rial, but may be and is more or less used for making 
prepared or artificial fuel. Compare small coal, under 
small. 
slack 3 (slak), . [ME. slak; < Icel. slakki, a slope 
on a mountain's edge. Cf. slag 2 , slake?, slack 1 , 
4, slapt.~] if. A sloping hillside. 
They took the gallows from the slack, 
They set it in the glen. 
RMn Hood rescuing the Widows three Sons (Child's Bal- 
[lads, V. 267). 
2. An opening between hills ; a hollow where 
no water runs. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
3. A common. [Prov. Eng.] 4. A morass. 
[Scotch.] 
Slack-backed (slak'bakt), a. Out of condition 
in some way, as a whale. 
It is well known frequently to happen, especially in 
what are called slack-backed flsh, that the spasmodic con- 
vulsion and contraction which attend the stroke of the 
harpoon is instantly followed by a violent heaving and 
distention of the part, by which the wound is presented 
twice as wide as the barbs of the instrument which made 
it, and [it] is, therefore, often cast back out of it 
Manby, Voyage to Greenland, p. 130. 
slack-bake (slak'bak), t>. t. To bake imper- 
fectly; half -bake. 
He would not allude to men once in office, but now hap- 
pily out of it, who had . . . diluted the beer, slack-baked 
the bread, boned the meat, heightened the work, and 
lowered the soup. Dickens, Sketches, iv. 
slacken (slak'n), r. [< ME. "slaknen, sleknen 
(= Icel. slakna); < xlark 1 + -en 1 .'] I. intniim. 
To become slack, (a) To become less tense, firm, or 
slae 
rigid: as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather. (i>) To 
become less violent, rapid, or intense; abate; moderate. 
These raging fires 
Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames. 
Milton, P. L, ii. 213. 
(c) To become leas active; fall off: as, trade slackened; 
the demand slackens; prices slacken, (d) To become re- 
miss or neglectful, as of duty. 
II. trans. To make slack or slacker, (a) To 
lessen or relieve the tension of ; loosen ; relax : as, to slack- 
en a bandage, or an article of clothing. 
Time gently aided to asswage my Pain ; 
And Wisdom took once more the slacken'd Reign. 
Prior, Solomon, ii. 
His bow-string slacken'd, languid Love, 
Leaning his cheek upon his hand, 
Droops both his wings. Tennyson, Eleanore. 
(6) To abate ; moderate ; lessen ; diminish the intensity, 
severity, rate, etc., of; hence, to mitigate; assuage; re- 
lieve : as, to slacken one's pace ; to slacken cares. 
Shall any man think to have such a Sabbath, such a rest, 
In that election, as shall slacken our endeavour to make 
sure our salvation, and not work as God works, to his 
ends In us? Donne, Sermons, xxii. 
(c) To be or become remiss in or neglectful of ; remit ; re- 
lax : as. to slacken labor or exertion. 
slack-handed (slak'han'ded), a. Remiss ; neg- 
lectful; slack. [Bare.] 
Heroic rascality which is ever on the prowl, and which 
finds well-stocked preserves under the slack-handed pro- 
tection of the local committee. 
Edinburgh Rev., CXLV. 370. 
slack-jaw (slak'ja), . Impertinent language. 
[Slang.] 
"I ain't nuvver whooped that a-way yit, mister," said 
Sprouse, with a twinkle in his eye ; ' but I mought do it 
fur you, bein 1 as how ye got so much slack-jaw." 
The Century, XXXVII. 407. 
slackly (slak'li), adv. [< ME. slakly ; < slack 1 
+ -ly*.'} In a slack manner. (at) Slowly ; in a 
leisurely way. 
We sayled forth slakly and easely ayenst the wynde, and 
so the same daye ayenst nyght we come nyghe ye yle of 
Piscopia. Sir R. Ouylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 58. 
(b) Loosely ; not tightly. 
Her hair, . . . slackly braided in loose negligence. 
Shak., Lover's Complaint, 1. 35. 
(c) Negligently ; remissly ; carelessly. 
That a king's children should be so convey'd, 
So slackly guarded ! Shak., Cymbeline, i. 1. 64. 
(rf) Without briskness or activity. 
Times are dull and labor slackly employed. 
The American, IX. 148. 
slackness (slak'nes), n. [< ME. slaknesse, slac- 
tifsse, < AS. slecnes, sleacnes, slackness, < slsec, 
sleac, slack: see slack 1 .'] The character or state 
of being slack, in any sense. 
Matters of such weight and consequence are to be 
speeded with maturity: for in a business of moment a 
man feareth not the blame of convenient slackness. 
The Translators to the. Reader of Bible (A. V.), p. cxvi. 
slack-salted (slak'sal'ted), a. Cured with a 
small or deficient quantity of salt, as fish. 
slack-sized (slak'sizd), a. See sized 2 . 
slad (slad), n. [A var. of slade 1 .'] A hollow in 
a hillside. See the quotation. 
The general aspect presented by clay-bearing ground is 
that which is locally known in Cornwall as "dad," being 
a hollow depression in the side of a hill, which catches wa- 
ter as it drains from it, the water percolating through the 
soil assisting the decomposition of the granite beneath. 
The Engineer, LXVU. 171. 
slade 1 (slad), n. [< ME. slade, sleed, < AS. slad, 
a valley, < Lr. slad, a glen, valley.] 1. A little 
dell or valley ; a vale. 
By-3onde the broke by slente other slade. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), I. 141. 
Satyrs, that in slades and gloomy dimbles dwell, 
Run whooting to the hills. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, ii. 190. 
2. An open space or strip of greensward in a 
wood or between two woods; a glade. 
In the green wood slade 
To meet with Little John's arrowe. 
Robin Hood (Percy's Reliques), 1. 79. 
3f. A harbor; a basin. 
We weyed and went out at Goldmore gate, and from 
thence in at Balsey slade, and so into Orwel wands, where 
we came to an anker. llakluyt's Voyages, I. 310. 
slade'-t. An obsolete preterit of slide. 
slade 3 (slad), . [Origin obscure; cf. slant.'] 
1. A long narrow spade with a part of one 
side turned up at right angles, used for cutting 
peats; a peat-spade. [Ireland.] 
The peat is cut from the bog, in brick-shaped blocks, by 
means of a peculiar spade known as a slade, and, alter 
being dried in stacks, is used as fuel. 
3u-dey, Physiography, p. 234. 
2. The sole of a plow. E. H. Knight. 
slae (sla), n. A dialectal (Scotch) form of sloe. 
To the grene-wood I maun gae, 
To pu' the red rose and the slae. 
Cotpatrick (Child's Ballads, I. 156)i 
