lax


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lax

loose or slack; not firm; not strict; negligent: lax in enforcing the rules
Not to be confused with:
lacks – does not have something that is needed: The safe lacks a lock.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

LAX

abbr.
lacrosse

lax

 (lăks)
adj. lax·er, lax·est
1. Lacking in rigor, strictness, or firmness. See Synonyms at negligent.
2. Not taut, firm, or compact; slack. See Synonyms at loose.
3. Loose and not easily retained or controlled. Used of bowel movements.
4. Linguistics Pronounced with the muscles of the tongue and jaw relatively relaxed, as the vowel (ĕ) in let.

[Middle English, from Latin laxus, loose, lax; see slēg- in Indo-European roots.]

lax·a′tion n.
lax′ly adv.
lax′ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lax

(læks)
adj
1. lacking firmness; not strict
2. lacking precision or definition
3. not taut
4. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics (of a speech sound) pronounced with little muscular effort and consequently having relatively imprecise accuracy of articulation and little temporal duration. In English the vowel i in bit is lax
5. (Botany) (of flower clusters) having loosely arranged parts
[C14 (originally used with reference to the bowels): from Latin laxus loose]
ˈlaxly adv
ˈlaxity, ˈlaxness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lax

(læks)

adj. -er, -est.
1. not strict or severe; negligent: lax morals.
2. loose or slack: a lax rope.
3. not rigidly exact or precise; vague: lax ideas.
4. loose, open, or not retentive, as the bowels.
5. having the bowels loose or open.
6. open or not compact; having a loosely cohering structure; porous: lax texture.
7. (of a vowel) articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles. Compare tense 1 (def. 4).
[1350–1400; Middle English < Latin laxus loose, slack, wide]
lax′ly, adv.
lax′ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.lax - lacking in rigor or strictness; "such lax and slipshod ways are no longer acceptable"; "lax in attending classes"; "slack in maintaining discipline"
negligent - characterized by neglect and undue lack of concern; "negligent parents"; "negligent of detail"; "negligent in his correspondence"
2.lax - pronounced with muscles of the tongue and jaw relatively relaxed (e.g., the vowel sound in `bet')
phonetics - the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis
tense - pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat')
3.lax - lacking in strength or firmness or resilience; "a lax rope"; "a limp handshake"
loose - not tight; not closely constrained or constricted or constricting; "loose clothing"; "the large shoes were very loose"
tense - taut or rigid; stretched tight; "tense piano strings"
4.lax - emptying easily or excessively; "loose bowels"
unconstipated, regular - not constipated
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

lax

adjective
1. slack, casual, careless, sloppy (informal), easy-going, negligent, lenient, slapdash, neglectful, slipshod, remiss, easy-peasy (slang), overindulgent One of the problems is lax security for airport personnel.
slack severe, disciplined, strict, stern, rigid, stringent, conscientious, scrupulous, heedful
2. loose, soft, yielding, slack, flabby, flaccid exercises to improve lax muscles
loose firm, rigid
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

lax

adjective
2. Guilty of neglect; lacking due care or concern:
3. Not tautly bound, held, or fastened:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
غَيْر صارِم، مُتَراخٍ
nedbalý
slap
lässigungespannt
kærulaus; léttúîugur
nepakankamai griežtas
izlaidīgsnevīžīgspaviršsvaļīgs
laxný
kayıtsızumursamaz

lax

[læks] ADJ (laxer (compar) (laxest (superl))) (pej) [person, discipline] → poco estricto, poco riguroso; [standards, morals] → laxo, relajado
things are very lax at the schoolen el colegio hay poca disciplina
to be lax about or on punctualityser negligente en la puntualidad
to be morally laxtener una moral laxa or relajada
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

lax

[ˈlæks] adj [security, standards] → relâché(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

lax

adj (+er)
lax; disciplinelasch, lax; moralslocker, lose; she is rather lax in her relations with mensie hat ein recht lockeres Verhältnis zu Männern; to be lax about somethingetw vernachlässigen; he’s lax about washing/imposing disciplineer nimmts mit dem Waschen/der Disziplin nicht so genau; I’ve been rather lax about replying to your lettersich habe mir mit der Beantwortung Ihrer Briefe reichlich viel Zeit gelassen; things are very lax at the schoolin der Schule geht es sehr lax or undiszipliniert zu
lax bowelsdünner Stuhl(gang)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

lax

[læks] adj (-er (comp) (-est (superl))) (conduct) → lassista; (person, careless) → negligente; (on discipline) → permissivo/a
to be lax about punctuality → non tenere or badare alla puntualità
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

lax

(lӕks) adjective
careless or not strict in discipline or morals. Pupils have been rather lax about some of the school rules recently.
ˈlaxity noun
ˈlaxness noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

lax

a. laxo-a, suelto-a, relajado-a.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

lax

adj laxo, flojo
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
Our good, upright Tom Tulliver's mind was of this class; his inward criticism of his father's faults did not prevent him from adopting his father's prejudice; it was a prejudice against a man of lax principle and lax life, and it was a meeting-point for all the disappointed feelings of family and personal pride.
It is true that Henry had stationed an outpost upon the summit of the hill in advance of Lewes, but so lax was discipline in his army that the soldiers, growing tired of the duty, had abandoned the post toward morning, and returned to town, leaving but a single man on watch.
Within the lax limits of mercantile morality, Richard Turlington had a conscience.
In the enforce- ment of his rules, he was at times rigid, and at times lax. At times, he spoke to his slaves with the firmness of Napoleon and the fury of a demon; at other times, he might well be mistaken for an inquirer who had lost his way.
Let the point of extreme depression to which our national dignity and credit have sunk, let the inconveniences felt everywhere from a lax and ill administration of government, let the revolt of a part of the State of North Carolina, the late menacing disturbances in Pennsylvania, and the actual insurrections and rebellions in Massachusetts, declare -- !
He went as the deputy of some missionary society to preach in the neighbourhood of Trantridge, a place forty miles from here, and made it his business to expostulate with a lax young cynic he met with somewhere about there--son of some landowner up that way--and who has a mother afflicted with blindness.
But she repeated no previous state at all in the lax disorder of her internal administration, a laxity that made vast sections of her area lawless beyond precedent, so that it was possible for whole districts to be impassable, while civil war raged between street and street, and for Alsatias to exist in her midst in which the official police never set foot.
With the lax habits and easy familiarity of his race, he had a little world of self-indulgence and misrule around him.
"At the Tuileries," he repeated, seeing the eyes of the company expectantly turned on him, "the standard was excessively lax in some respects; and if you'd asked where Morny's money came from--!
It was a happy thing for me that there happened to be a soldier there that knew even as much as he did; for they say that the policy of the government is to change the soldiery from one place to another constantly and from country to city, so that they can not become acquainted with the people and grow lax in their duties and enter into plots and conspiracies with friends.
For the most glutinously indefinite minds enclose some hard grains of habit; and a man has been seen lax about all his own interests except the retention of his snuff-box, concerning which he was watchful, suspicious, and greedy of clutch.
Even if we were as lax as we are, in all our arrangements, by choice - which we are not - even if we liked it, and found it agreeable to be so - which we don't - I am persuaded we should have no right to go on in this way.