Lax vs Relax - What's the difference?
lax | relax |
A salmon.
lenient and allowing for deviation; not strict.
* J. A. Symonds
loose; not tight or taut.
* Ray
lacking care; neglectful, negligent
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=October 1
, author=Phil Dawkes
, title=Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom
, work=BBC Sport
(archaic) Having a looseness of the bowels; diarrheal.
lacrosse
----
To calm down.
To make something loose.
* Milton
To become loose.
To make something less severe or tense.
To become less severe or tense.
To make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient.
* Jonathan Swift
(of codes and regulations) To become more lenient.
To relieve (something) from stress.
(dated) To relieve from constipation; to loosen; to open.
As a noun lax
is a salmon.As an adjective lax
is lenient and allowing for deviation; not strict.As an initialism LAX
is iATA airport code for Los Angeles International Airport.As a verb relax is
to calm down.lax
English
Alternative forms
* (Killian)Etymology 1
From (etyl) lax, from (etyl) .Noun
(laxes)Etymology 2
From (etyl)Adjective
(er)- The rules are fairly lax , but you have to know which ones you can bend.
- Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax , in matters of the passions.
- The rope fell lax .
- the flesh of that sort of fish being lax and spongy
citation, page= , passage=Prior to this match, Albion had only scored three league goals all season, but Wes Brown's lax marking allowed Morrison to head in their fourth from a Chris Brunt free-kick and then, a minute later, the initial squandering of possession and Michael Turner's lack of pace let Long run through to slot in another.}}
Synonyms
* permissive, lenient * loose, slackAntonyms
* strict * taut, tightNoun
(-)relax
English
Verb
(es)- to relax''' a rope or cord; to '''relax the muscles or sinews
- Horror all his joints relaxed .
- to relax''' discipline; to '''relax one's attention or endeavours
- The stature of mortmain was at several times relaxed by the legislature.
- {{quote-book
citation, page=589 , passage=The Court rejected the contention that the doctrine of sovereign immunity should be relaxed as inapplicable to suits for specific relief as distinguished from damage suits, saying: "The Government, as representative of the community as a whole, cannot be stopped in its tracks by any plaintiff who presents a disputed question of property or contract right."}}
- Amusement relaxes the mind.
- An aperient relaxes the bowels.