pick/take up the slack

idiom

: to provide or do something that is missing or not getting done

The manager has to take up the slack when employees don't do their jobs correctly.

When he didn't get the pay raise he was expecting, he had to take another job to pick up the slack for more money.

Examples of pick/take up the slack in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

So if the Trump administration cut off the funding for heat pumps that the IRA provides, states could pick up the slack. —

Matt Simon / Grist, Quartz, 12 Nov. 2024 Almost immediately, he has been sidelined; Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, Mack Hollins, Curtis Samuel, and Jalen Virgil will hopefully pick up the slack. —

David Faris, Newsweek, 3 Nov. 2024 Traditional thinking says if one area of your business falters, another will pick up the slack. —

Mark Kane, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024 Having a partner to pick up the slack so that the workload and responsibility didn’t rest on one set of shoulders also proved vital, as Trevillian points out. —

Mike Dojc, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for pick/take up the slack

Cite this Entry

Style

“Pick/take up the slack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pick%2Ftake%20up%20the%20slack. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation