Lax vs Slacken - What's the difference?
lax | slacken |
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 gradually decrease in intensity or tautness; to become slack.
* 1900 , , The House Behind the Cedars , Chapter I,
* 1908 ,
To make slack, less taut, or less intense.
* 1986 , Mari Sandoz, The Horsecatcher?
To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake.
As a verb slacken is
to gradually decrease in intensity or tautness; to become slack.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
(-)slacken
English
Verb
(en verb)- The pace slackened .
- During this interlude, Warwick, though he had slackened his pace measurably, had so nearly closed the gap between himself and them as to hear the old woman say, with the dulcet negro intonation:...
- He seemed tired, and the Rat let him rest unquestioned, understanding something of what was in his thoughts; knowing, too, the value all animals attach at times to mere silent companionship, when the weary muscles slacken and the mind marks time.
- Elk slackened the rope so he could walk farther away, and together they went awkwardly up the trail toward the grassy little flat...
- to slack lime