to take up the slack in a rope
1take up the slack — ► take (or pick) up the slack 1) improve the use of resources to avoid an undesirable lull in business. 2) pull on the loose part of a rope to make it taut. Main Entry: ↑slack …
2slack — I. adjective Etymology: Middle English slak, from Old English sleac; akin to Old High German slah slack, Latin laxus slack, loose, languēre to languish, Greek lagnos lustful and perhaps to Greek lēgein to stop Date: before 12th century 1. not… …
3slack — n. part that hangs loose to take up the slack (of a rope) * * * [slæk] [ part that hangs loose ] to take up the slack (of a rope) …
4pick up the slack — ► take (or pick) up the slack 1) improve the use of resources to avoid an undesirable lull in business. 2) pull on the loose part of a rope to make it taut. Main Entry: ↑slack …
5slack — Ⅰ. slack [1] ► ADJECTIVE 1) not taut or held tightly in position; loose. 2) (of business or trade) not busy; quiet. 3) careless, lazy, or negligent. 4) (of a tide) neither ebbing nor flowing. ► NOUN 1) …
6slack — slack1 slackingly, adv. slackly, adv. slackness, n. /slak/, adj. 1. not tight, taut, firm, or tense; loose: a slack rope. 2. negligent; careless; remiss: slack proofreading. 3. slow, sluggish, or indolent: He is slack in answering letters …
7slack — 1. adj., n., v., & adv. adj. 1 (of rope etc.) not taut. 2 inactive or sluggish. 3 negligent or remiss. 4 (of tide etc.) neither ebbing nor flowing. 5 (of trade or business or a market) with little happening. 6 loose. 7 Phonet. lax. 8 relaxed,… …
8slack — 1 adjective 1 not taking enough care or making enough effort to do things right: Tollitt blundered with a slack header towards the goalkeeper. | The report criticized airport security as disgracefully slack . 2 with less business activity than… …
9slack — {{11}}slack (adj.) O.E. slæc loose, careless (in reference to personal conduct), from P.Gmc. *slakas (Cf. O.S. slak, O.N. slakr, O.H.G. slah slack, M.Du. lac fault, lack ), from PIE root * (s)leg to be slack (see LAX (Cf. lax)). Sense of …
10take up — {v.} 1. To remove by taking in. * /Use a blotter to take up the spilled ink./ * /When the vacuum cleaner bag is full, it will not take up dirt from the rug./ 2. To fill or to occupy. * /All his evenings were taken up with study./ * /The oceans… …
