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slake: msg#00020

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: slake

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The Word of the Day for October 22 is:

slake \SLAYK\ verb
*1 : satisfy, quench
2 : to cause (as lime) to heat and crumble by treatment
with water : hydrate

Example sentence:
"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.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





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