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lax

 - 6 dictionary results

lax

[laks]
–adjective, -er, -est.
1. not strict or severe; careless or negligent: lax morals; a lax attitude toward discipline.
2. loose or slack; not tense, rigid, or firm: a lax rope; a lax handshake.
3. not rigidly exact or precise; vague: lax ideas.
4. open, loose, or not retentive, as diarrheal bowels.
5. (of a person) having the bowels unusually loose or open.
6. open or not compact; having a loosely cohering structure; porous: lax tissue; lax texture.
7. Phonetics. (of a vowel) articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles. Compare tense 1 (def. 4).

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L laxus loose, slack, wide; akin to languēre to languish; c. OE slæc slack 1


laxly, adverb
laxness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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lax   (lāks)   
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 (ě) 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

lax  (adj.)
c.1400, "loose" (in ref. to bowels), from L. laxus "wide, loose, open," from PIE base *sleg- "to be slack, be languid" (cf. Gk. legein "to leave off, stop," lagos "hare," lit. "with drooping ears," lagnos "lustful, lascivious," lagaros "slack, hollow, shrunken;" L. languere "to be faint, weary," languidis "faint, weak, dull, sluggish, languid"). Of rules, discipline, etc., attested from c.1450.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: lax
Pronunciation: 'laks
Function: adjective
1 of the bowels : LOOSE3
2 : having loose bowels
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

LAX
LAnguage eXample.
A toy language used to illustrate compiler design.
["Compiler Construction", W.M. Waite et al, Springer 1984].
(1994-12-07)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
LAX
Los Angeles International Airport
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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