How to Use slacken in a Sentence

slacken

verb
  • The captain ordered us to slacken the sails.
  • Sales show no sign of slackening.
  • As he began to relax, his grip on the steering wheel slackened.
  • But as an El Niño gathers strength, the trade winds tend to slacken.
    Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 9 July 2015
  • The rehearsal room smelled of onions slackening in a pan.
    Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2017
  • Wind speeds should slacken overnight Friday even near the gorge.
    oregonlive, 15 Dec. 2022
  • My resolve soon began to slacken as burnout licked at the edges of my will.
    Kyle Meyaard-Schaap, CNN, 30 Apr. 2021
  • Oregon’s jobless rate fell to a record 3.9% last month and the pace of new jobless claims has slackened.
    Mike Rogoway | The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 29 Dec. 2019
  • The dance is full of impulse-like actions and slackened pauses.
    Ian Johnson, The New York Review of Books, 5 Apr. 2020
  • Winds will slacken a good deal with sundown, ending up light out of the north after dark.
    Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2021
  • Once the front moves through, the winds should slacken, but travel may be difficult at times with stronger gusts and heavy rain.
    oregonlive, 10 Dec. 2021
  • The good news is that winds out of the gorge should slacken by late morning helping to mitigate wind chills.
    oregonlive, 23 Dec. 2022
  • Cold remains on Monday but at least breezes should slacken a bit.
    A. Camden Walker, Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2022
  • But the rate of decline slackened as some parts of the economy were allowed to reopen.
    Julia Horowitz, CNN, 21 May 2020
  • Winds should begin to slacken overnight as the high pressure begins to weaken east of the Cascades.
    oregonlive, 28 Jan. 2022
  • But most of the high winds are slackening Friday morning.
    OregonLive.com, 8 Dec. 2017
  • But as the fleet reached Canvey Island, the already light winds slackened, and the race committee shortened the course.
    William Booth, Washington Post, 24 July 2023
  • Through tonight: Winds will slacken a good deal in the evening and become relatively light overnight.
    Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2021
  • There is no sign of any slackening in demand for such business.
    The Economist, 18 July 2019
  • While data for August is not available yet, the pace has not appeared to slacken.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Sep. 2019
  • While data for August are not available yet, the pace has not appeared to slacken.
    Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Tomorrow night: Skies are mainly clear, and winds should slacken compared to the day.
    Washington Post, 18 Dec. 2021
  • As winds also slacken, pretty much the whole area will dip to or below freezing tonight, with lows ranging from the mid-20s to low 30s.
    Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2021
  • Winds slacken somewhat Friday night with colder lows in the upper 30s to low 40s.
    Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2022
  • That restless buildup for the perfect tomato to slacken and blush, to actually smell of fire and rain?
    Eric Kim, New York Times, 19 July 2023
  • Only one Wall Street executive was sent to jail for the Crash of 2008, but a great many had to be defended, and the pace hasn’t slackened since.
    James Atlas, Town & Country, 3 Dec. 2018
  • Rain is likely during the morning but may slacken a bit by the afternoon.
    oregonlive, 23 Dec. 2022
  • Around a third of his New Year’s speech concerned economic goals, which seem to rest on slackening the sanctions noose.
    Charlie Campbell / Beijing, Time, 8 Jan. 2018
  • The rain will slacken thereafter — so the race will probably start AND finish today — but there is a real threat of a delay mid-race.
    Shane Connuck, Charlotte Observer, 26 May 2024
  • Perhaps their eyes slacken at the idea of yet another uninspired pantry pasta.
    Scott Hocker, theweek, 12 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slacken.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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