Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SLACK, n.²

Small coat; coal broken into small pieces. – Eng.

SLACK, n.³

A valley or small shallow dell. [Local.] – Grose.

SLACK, n.⁴

Small coal under the size of an egg.

SLACK, or SLACK'EN, v.i. [Sax. slacian; D. slaaken; Sw. slakna; W. yslacâu and yslaciaw, to slacken, to loosen, from llac, llag, slack, loose, lax, sluggish.]

1. To become lese tense, firm or rigid; to decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather.
2. To be remiss or backward; to neglect. – Deut. xxiii.
3. To lose cohesion or the quality of adhesion; as, lime slacks and crumbles into powder. – Moxon.
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; the tide slackens. – Mar. Dict.
6. To languish; to fail; to flag. – Ainsworth.

SLACK, or SLACK'EN, v.t.

1. To lessen tension; to make less tense or tight; as, to slacken a rope or a bandage.
2. To relax; to remit; as, to slacken exertion or labor.
3. To mitigate; to diminish in severity; as, to slacken pain.
4. To become more slow; to lessen rapidity; as, to slacken one's pace.
5. To abate; to lower; as, to slacken the heat of a fire.
6. To relieve; to unbend; to remit; as, to slacken cares. – Denham.
7. To withhold; to use less liberally. – Shak.
8. To deprive of cohesion; as, to slack lime. – Mortimer.
9. To repress; to check. I should be griev'd, young prince, to think my presence / Unbent your thoughts and slacken'd 'em to arms. – Addison.
10. To neglect. Slack not the good presage. – Dryden.
11. To repress, or make less quick or active. – Addison.

SLACK'EN, n.

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

SLACK'LY, adv.

1. Not tightly; loosely.
2. Negligently; remissly.

SLACK'NESS, n.

1. Looseness; the state opposite to tension; not tightness or rigidness; as, the slackness of a cord or rope.
2. Remissness; negligence; inattention; as, the slackness of men in business or duty; slackness in the performance of engagements. – Hooker.
3. Slowness; tardiness; want of tendency; as; the slackness of flesh to heal. – Sharp.
4. Weakness; not intenseness. – Brerewood.

SLADE, n. [Sax. slæd.]

A little dell or valley; also, a flat piece of low, moist ground. [Local.] – Drayton.

SLAG, n. [Dan. slagg; G. schlacke.]

The dross or recrement of a metal; or vitrified cinders. – Boyle. Kirwan.

SLAIE, n. [sla; Sax. slæ.]

A weaver's reed.

SLAIN, pp. [of Slay; so written for slayen.]

Killed.

SLAKE, v.i.

1. To go out; to become extinct. – Brown.
2. To grow less tense. [A mistake for Slack.]

SLAKE, v.t.¹ [Sw. slåcka, Ice. slæcka, to quench. It seems to be allied to lay.]

To quench; to extinguish; as, to slake thirst. And slake the heav'nly lire. – Spenser.

SLAKE, v.t.² [slak.]

To mix with water so that a true chimical combination shall take place; as, to slake lime.

SLAK'ED, pp.

Quenched; mixed with water so that a combination takes place.

SLAK'ING, ppr.

1. Extinguishing, as thirst.
2. Mixing with water so as to produce combination, as with lime.

SLAM, n.

1. A violent driving and dashing against; a violent shutting of a door.
2. Defeat at cards, or the winning of all the tricks.
3. The refuse of alum-works; used in Yorkshire as a manure, with sea weed and lime. [Local.]

SLAM, v.t. [Ice. lema, to strike, Old Eng. lam; Sax. hlemman, to sound.]

1. To strike with force and noise; to shut with violence; as, to slam a door.
2. To beat; to cuff. [Local.] – Grose.
3. To strike down; to slaughter. [Local.]
4. To win all the tricke in a hand; as we say, to take all at a stroke or dash.

SLAM'KIN, or SLAM'MER-KIN, n. [G. schlampe.]

A slut; a slatternly woman. [Not used or local.]

SLAM'MING, ppr.

Striking or shutting with violence.

SLAN-DER, n. [Norm. esclaunder; Fr. esclandre; Russ. klenu, klianu, to slander; Sw. klandra, to accuse or blame.]

1. A false tale or report maliciously uttered, and tending to injure the reputation of another, by lessening him in the esteem of his fellow-citizens, by exposing him to impeachment and punishment, or by impairing his means of living; defamation. – Blackstone. Slander, that worst of poisons, ever finds / An easy entrance to ignoble minds. – Hervey.
2. Disgrace; reproach; disreputation; ill name. – Shak.

SLAN-DER, v.t.

To defame; to injure by maliciously uttering a false report respecting one; to tarnish or impair the reputation of one by false tales maliciously told or propagated.

SLAN-DER-ED, pp.

Defamed; injured in good name by false and malicious reports.

SLAN-DER-ER, n.

A defamer; one who injures another by maliciously reporting something to his prejudice.