Definition of slacken

• a. - To become slack; to be made less tense, firm, or rigid; to decrease in tension; as, a wet cord slackens in dry weather.
• a. - To be remiss or backward; to be negligent.
• a. - To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake; as, lime slacks.
• a. - To abate; to become less violent.
• a. - To lose rapidity; to become more slow; as, a current of water slackens.
• a. - To languish; to fail; to flag.
• a. - To end; to cease; to desist; to slake.
• v. t. - To render slack; to make less tense or firm; as, to slack a rope; to slacken a bandage.
• v. t. - To neglect; to be remiss in.
• v. t. - To deprive of cohesion by combining chemically with water; to slake; as, to slack lime.
• v. t. - To cause to become less eager; to repress; to make slow or less rapid; to retard; as, to slacken pursuit; to slacken industry.
• v. t. - To cause to become less intense; to mitigate; to abate; to ease.
• n. - A spongy, semivitrifled substance which miners or smelters mix with the ores of metals to prevent their fusion.