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Webster 1913 Edition

Slacken

{

Slack

,

Slack′en

, }
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Slacked
,
Slackened
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Slacking
,
Slackening
.]
[See
Slack
,
Adj.
]
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.
{

Slack

,

Slack′en

, }
Verb.
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
.
“Rancor for to slack.”
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.

Slack′en

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

Webster 1828 Edition

Slacken

SLACK'EN

,
Noun.
Among miners, a spungy semi-vitrified substance which they mix with the ores of metals to prevent their fusion.

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