Word of the Day

: April 15, 2009

slake

verb SLAYK

What It Means

1 : satisfy, quench

2 : to cause (as lime) to heat and crumble by treatment with water : hydrate

slake in Context

"What an unspeakable luxury it was to slake that thirst with the pure and limpid ice-water of the glacier!" (Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad)

Did You Know?

"Slake" is no slacker when it comes to obsolete and archaic meanings. Shakespearean scholars may know that in the Bard's day "slake" meant "to subside or abate" ("No flood by raining slaketh. . . ." -- The Rape of Lucrece) or "to lessen the force of " ("It could not slake mine ire, nor ease my heart." -- Henry VI, Part 3). The most erudite word enthusiasts may also be aware of earlier meanings of "slake," such as "to slacken one's efforts" or "to cause to be relaxed or loose." These early meanings recall the word's Old English ancestor "sleac," which not only meant "slack" but is also the source of that modern term.