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

Starters haven’t pitched deep consistently all season, and with the way the injury bug has hit the rotation, the Mets have needed relievers to pick up the slack. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 30 June 2025

Other middle-of-the-order bats — from current NL batting leader Will Smith, to June player of the month candidate Max Muncy and rising second-year star Andy Pages — have helped pick up the slack. —Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025

Heinemann puts faith in new markets This has left the door open for the Middle East to take up the slack. —Kevin Rozario, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025

If foreign private holders like banks and institutional investors follow suit, Swiber is worried about who will pick up the slack. —Greg McKenna, Fortune, 18 June 2025