slake means to satisfy (thirst, or other desires). It carries an Arena rating of 1730, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, slake ranks #115 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #426 of 42,762 for Qualifying, #1,945 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,992 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
slake is pronounced /sleɪk/.
Why “slake” is a great word
To satisfy a need or desire, especially thirst; in technical use, to mix lime with water, causing a vigorous chemical reaction that moistens and alters it. From Middle English slaken, from late Old English sleacian, slacian ('to become slack, relax, diminish'), from Old English slæc ('slack'). Unlike 'quench,' which holds the finality of extinguishing fire, or 'assuage,' which seeks only to dull an edge of pain, to slake is to answer a craving directly and completely. It is the dusty, desperate gulp from a canteen on a parched trail; the slow, exothermic hiss as water meets quicklime, steaming and crumbling into useful paste; the momentary, quiet satiation of a longing for connection—the moment thirst loosens its grip, not by force, but by the quiet surrender of need met.
Etymology
From Middle English slaken (“to render slack, to slake”), from Old English sleacian, from Old English slæc (“slack”). Unrelated to, but possibly influenced by, the Old Norse sløkkva (“to extinguish”), compare Swedish släcka in the phrase släcka sin törst (“quench one's thirst”), släcka elden (“put out the fire”), and släckt kalk (“slaked lime”).
verb
- To satisfy (thirst, or other desires).e.g.“slake the heavenly fire” — 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 40:
- To cool (something) with water or another liquid.
- To become mixed with water, so that a true chemical combination takes place.e.g.“The lime slakes.”
- To mix with water, so that a true chemical combination takes place.e.g.“to slake lime”
- Of a person: to become less energetic, to slacken in one's efforts.
- To slacken; to become relaxed or loose.e.g.“When the body's strongest sinews slake.” — 1595, John Davies, Orchestra:
- To become less intense; to weaken, decrease in force.
- To go out; to become extinct.e.g.“His flame did slake.” — 1613, William Browne, Britannia's Pastorals:
- To besmear.
noun
- A sloppy mess.
- A slack, a tidal wetland.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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