slack

B2 · Upper Intermediate

adj. not active or having little work to do.

adj. characterized by a lack of activity, business, or productivity.

“Business is usually slack during the cold winter months.”

“During the slack season, the factory operates on a four-day week to avoid laying off permanent staff members.”

C1 · Advanced Informal

adj. not showing enough care or effort.

adj. lacking in diligence, precision, or earnestness.

“He has been getting a bit slack with his homework recently.”

“The supervisor warned that slack standards in safety protocols would lead to immediate disciplinary action for the entire shift.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Informal

v. to work slowly or avoid doing your work.

v. to avoid work or effort; to shirk one's duties.

“If you slack off now, you will never finish the project on time.”

“Management noticed that several employees began to slack off once the quarterly targets had been met.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun

n. the part of a rope or wire that is not tight; also, extra time or money you can use.

n. the loose part of a rope or cable; figuratively, surplus resources or capacity within a system.

“When the manager left, the rest of the team had to pick up the slack.”

“The project manager built some slack into the schedule to account for potential delays in the supply chain.”

C2 · Proficiency Uncountable noun Science Technical

n. very small pieces of coal or coal dust.

n. coal screenings or dust, often considered of lower quality than lump coal.

“The miners cleared the slack from the bottom of the cart.”

“The industrial furnace was specifically designed to burn coal slack, which was significantly cheaper than high-grade anthracite.”

B1 · Intermediate Uncountable noun Computing

n. a popular computer program used by teams to talk and work together.

n. a proprietary business communication platform offering IRC-style features, including persistent chat rooms organized by topic.

“I will send you the files over Slack later this afternoon.”

“The company migrated all internal communications to Slack to reduce the volume of unnecessary emails between departments.”