lax
nounadjectivenounnounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//læks//
A salmon.
noun
- 1
A salmon.
Etymology
From Middle English lax, from Old English leax (“salmon”), from Proto-West Germanic *lahs (“salmon”), from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz (“salmon”), from Proto-Indo-European *laḱs- (“salmon, trout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lacks, lachs, lasche (“salmon”), Middle Low German las (“salmon”), German Lachs (“salmon”), Norwegian laks (“salmon”), Danish laks (“salmon”), Swedish lax (“salmon”), Icelandic lax (“salmon”), Lithuanian lašišà (“salmon”), Latvian lasis, Russian лосо́сь (losósʹ, “salmon”), Albanian leshterik (“eel-grass”). Doublet of lox.
adjective
- 1
Lenient and allowing for deviation; not strict.
The rules are fairly lax, but you have to know which ones you can bend.
Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions.
- 2
Loose; not tight or taut.
The rope fell lax.
Sreedharan and Mirsa (1973) reported that two lax panicle mutants, designated as nude panicle mutation, were obtained from the M₂ of two rice cultivars.
- 3
Lacking care; neglectful, negligent.
Prior to this match, Albion had only scored three league goals all season, but Wes Brown's lax marking allowed Morrison to head in their fourth from a Chris Brunt free-kick and then, a minute later, the initial squandering of possession and Michael Turner's lack of pace let Long run through to slot in another.
- 4
Describing an associative monoidal functor.
- 5
archaicHaving a looseness of the bowels; diarrheic.
- 6
(of a vowel) Produced with relatively little constriction of the vocal tract.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin laxus (“wide, roomy, loose”).
noun
- 1
slanglacrosse.
“I'm not playing lax this term,” Mimah said.
Etymology
By replacement of the syllable crosse with the cross-shaped letter x.
noun
- 1
Variant of laxativeinformalClipping of laxative.
Forms
- plural
- laxes
- comparative
- laxer
- superlative
- laxest