Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To satisfy (a craving); quench.
- intransitive verb Archaic To lessen the force or intensity of; moderate.
- intransitive verb To combine (lime) chemically with water or moist air.
- intransitive verb To undergo a slaking process; crumble or disintegrate, as lime.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A channel through a swamp or mud-flat.
- noun Slime or mud.
- To besmear; daub.
- noun A slovenly or slabbery daub; a slight dabbing or bedaubing as with something soft and slabbery; a “lick.”
- noun A name of various species of Algæ, chiefly marine and of the edible sorts, as Ulva Lactuca, U. latissima, and Porphyra laciniata: applied also to fresh-water species, as Enteromorpha and perhaps Conferva.
- To become slack; loosen; slacken; fall off.
- To be lax, remiss, or negligent.
- To become less strong, active, energetic, severe, intense, or the like; abate; decrease; fail; cease.
- To desist; give over: fall short.
- To become disintegrated and loosened by the action of water; become chemically combined with water: as, the lime slakes.
- To make slack or slow; slow; slacken.
- To make slack or loose; render less tense, firm, or compact; slacken. Specifically
- To loosen or disintegrate; reduce to powder by the action of water: as, to
slake lime. Alsoslack . - To let loose; release.
- To make slack or inactive; hence, to quench or extinguish, as fire, appease or assuage, as hunger or thirst, or mollify, as hatred: as, to
slake one's hunger or thirst; to slake wrath.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To allay; to quench; to extinguish.
- transitive verb To mix with water, so that a true chemical combination shall take place; to slack.
- intransitive verb To go out; to become extinct.
- intransitive verb rare To abate; to become less decided.
- intransitive verb rare, rare To slacken; to become relaxed.
- intransitive verb To become mixed with water, so that a true chemical combination takes place.
- intransitive verb a trough containing water in which a blacksmith cools a forging or tool.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive, obsolete To
go out ; to becomeextinct . - verb intransitive To become mixed with water, so that a true chemical combination takes place.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make less active or intense
- verb cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water
- verb satisfy (thirst)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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You begin changing what you can about yourself to slake the thirst of a grasping world, and to settle the demons of insecurity leaping at your psyche.
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You begin changing what you can about yourself to slake the thirst of a grasping world, and to settle the demons of insecurity leaping at your psyche.
Archive 2009-08-01 2009
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Drawn & Quarterly will slake my curiosity with Black Blizzard, the tale of two convicts, cuffed together and on the run.
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Eager to slake their thirst for adventure, the brothers competed against a hundred others in the Enduro Africa off-road motorcycle rally, tearing across more than a thousand miles of rugged African terrain on their Honda CRF 230 cc bikes.
William and Kate Christopher Andersen 2011
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That the Saudis are even considering such a project shows how difficult and costly it is becoming to slake the world's thirst for oil.
Facing Up to End of 'Easy Oil' Ben Casselman 2011
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Hoping to slake a thirst around 4 p.m., the audience member had been disappointed to learn that such obvious choices as PS 7's, Rasika and Zola don't serve drinks until closer to the dinner hour.
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Too bad it would do no more than slake his thirst.
Healing the Highlander Melissa Mayhue 2011
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If I can find them, perhaps they'll slake my thirst for Barker's short fiction.
Rabid Reads: "Books of Blood: Volumes 1-3" by Clive Barker 2009
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Some do and "fan fiction" is an excellent way for them to slake their thirst for content without destroying the mystery for everyone else.
JK Rowling should remember that less means more in the Potterverse | David Mitchell 2011
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Eager to slake their thirst for adventure, the brothers competed against a hundred others in the Enduro Africa off-road motorcycle rally, tearing across more than a thousand miles of rugged African terrain on their Honda CRF 230 cc bikes.
William and Kate Christopher Andersen 2011
rolig commented on the word slake
This word, aptly, contains a lake,
but adds an initial s,
and thus suggests
the slipping and sliding and slithering
of water down the throat:
a liquid snake.
November 30, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word slake
I don't actually like this word, but it is neat in a kind of unlikable way. Like Nicolas Cage.
May 15, 2008
reesetee commented on the word slake
It always reminds me of Radar O'Reilly in a M*A*S*H episode where he first discovers the word in a poem.
May 15, 2008
trivet commented on the word slake
I'm with you, c_b. That may be the best explanation for Nicolas Cage ever.
May 15, 2008
dontcry commented on the word slake
My husband uses slake a different way. It would probably make Radar blush and Nicolas Cage snicker...
May 16, 2008
sblowes commented on the word slake
Can you think of any other thing you slake, other than thirst?
May 25, 2008
mollusque commented on the word slake
Lime.
May 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word slake
I saw the same M*A*S*H episode, and I suggest that you can slake desire. :-)
May 26, 2008
dreamdragon1 commented on the word slake
Slake is to satisfy, so you can slake your hungar, your lust, your need for new words...
June 2, 2009
taylorelaine commented on the word slake
Barbossa says this when he tells Elizabeth of the curse "...could not slake our lust..."
October 26, 2011