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Gladden vs Slack - What's the difference?

gladden | slack |

As verbs the difference between gladden and slack

is that gladden is to cause (something) to become more glad while slack is to slacken.

As a noun slack is

small coal; coal dust.

As an adjective slack is

lax; not tense; not hard drawn; not firmly extended.

As an adverb slack is

slackly.

gladden

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To cause (something) to become more glad.
  • *1798 , William Wordsworth, The Nightingale :
  • *:A balmy night! and tho' the stars be dim, / Yet let us think upon the vernal showers / That gladden the green earth, and we shall find / A pleasure in the dimness of the stars.
  • *1838 , Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist :
  • *:Her body was bent by age; her limbs trembled with palsy; her face, distorted into a mumbling leer, resembled more the grotesque shaping of some wild pencil, than the work of Nature's hand. Alas! How few of Nature's faces are left alone to gladden us with their beauty!
  • (archaic) To become more glad in one's disposition.
  • *
  • *:In May when every lusty heart flourisheth and bourgeoneth, for as the season is lusty to behold and comfortable, so man and woman rejoice and gladden of summer coming with his fresh flowers: for winter with his rough winds and blasts causeth a lusty man and woman to cower and sit fast by the fire.

    • Synonyms

    * cheer, cheer up, gratify, please

    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

    * *