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Alas vs Slack - What's the difference?

alas | slack |

As an adjective alas

is naked.

As a verb slack is

.

alas

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) a las (French .

Interjection

(en interjection)
  • Used to express sorrow, regret, compassion or grief.
  • * Act 5, Scene 1
    • Alas , Poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that.
    Synonyms
    * alack
    Derived terms
    * alack and alas

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • a type of

    • Anagrams

    * ----

    slack

    English

    Noun

  • (uncountable) Small coal; coal dust.
    • (Raymond)
  • (countable) A valley, or small, shallow dell.
  • (uncountable) The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.
    • The slack of a rope or of a sail.
  • (countable) A tidal marsh or shallow, that periodically fills and drains.

    • Synonyms

    * culm * (tidal marsh) slough

    Derived terms

    * (coal dust) nutty slack

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended.
    • a slack rope
  • Weak; not holding fast.
    • a slack hand
  • Remiss; backward; not using due diligence or care; not earnest or eager.
    • slack in duty or service
  • * Bible, 2 Peter iii. 9
    • The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness.
  • Not violent, rapid, or pressing.
    • Business is slack .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1928, author=Lawrence R. Bourne
    • , title=Well Tackled! , chapter=3 citation , passage=“They know our boats will stand up to their work,” said Willison, “and that counts for a good deal. A low estimate from us doesn't mean scamped work, but just for that we want to keep the yard busy over a slack time.”}}
  • (slang, West Indies) vulgar; sexually explicit, especially in dancehall music

    • Synonyms

    * slow, moderate, easy

    Derived terms

    * slack-jawed

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Slackly.
    • slack dried hops

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To slacken.
  • * Robert South
    • In this business of growing rich, poor men should slack their pace.
  • (obsolete) To mitigate; to reduce the strength of.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.7:
    • Ne did she let dull sleepe once to relent, / Nor wearinesse to slack her hast, but fled / Ever alike [...].
  • to procrastinate; to be lazy
  • to refuse to exert effort
  • To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake.
    • Lime slacks .

    Derived terms

    * skive off

    Anagrams

    * *