SLACKENING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Slackening

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/slˈækənɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Slacken, Slack v. i. (past & past part. slacked, slackened; pres. part. slacking, slackening)

To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather.

To be remiss or backward; to be negligent.

To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake; as, lime slacks.

To abate; to become less violent. "Whence these raging fires Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames."

To lose rapidity; to become more slow; as, a current of water slackens.

To languish; to fail; to flag.

To end; to cease; to desist; to slake. (Obs.) "That through your death your lineage should slack." "They will not of that firste purpose slack."

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Etymology of 'Slackening'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Slackening" Quotes from Famous Books

... went out! He tried to scream, but the wind caught the sound and carried it away with a rush of mocking laughter; he tried to reach out and grasp the walls but his hands were bound! Then he felt that he was drawing near the end; he had fallen miles!—and now his speed was slackening, and he was falling so softly, so lightly, till at last, like a downy feather he floated on the air, as a spirit from another world. He had reached the ...

— The Little Gold Miners of the Sierras and Other Stories • Various

... disclosures drew blood from Raven she could not have told. The road was narrower still, and rougher. Nan had forgotten where the stepping stones came out. He was slackening now. She knew the curve and the point where the cliff broke on the left, for the little path that continued the cross cut on the other side of the road. He got out without a glance at her, stepped to the water side of the roadway, ...

— Old Crow • Alice Brown

... small farmer's wife, the constant, never-slackening strain. There's no hired assistance. She must clean the house, and wash, and cook, though it's not unusual for the men to ...

— Masters of the Wheat-Lands • Harold Bindloss

... millions or so which it would cost to conquer and hold Canada, Australia, or South Africa; but a lucky raid on their commerce or some undefended port might cost many millions by way of ransom. A slackening birth-rate is, moreover, a reminder that empires in the past, like that of Rome, have civilized themselves out of existence in the competition with races which bred with primitive vigour, and had no costly standards of comfort. There are such races to-day; the slumbering East ...

— The History of England - A Study in Political Evolution • A. F. Pollard

... putting his bronco at the hills with a rush. He was in a treeless country, covered with polecat brush. Through this he plunged recklessly, taking breaks in the ground without slackening speed in ...

— Oh, You Tex! • William Macleod Raine

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