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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
lax    Audio Help   [laks] Pronunciation Key
–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 tense1 (def. 4).

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L laxus loose, slack, wide; akin to languére to languish; c. OE slæc slack1]

laxly, adverb
laxness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
lax

To learn more about lax visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
lax    Audio Help   (lāks)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
lax

adjective
1. lacking in rigor or strictness; "such lax and slipshod ways are no longer acceptable"; "lax in attending classes"; "slack in maintaining discipline" 
2. pronounced with muscles of the tongue and jaw relatively relaxed (e.g., the vowel sound in 'bet') [ant: tense
3. lacking in strength or firmness or resilience; "a lax rope"; "a limp handshake" [ant: tense
4. emptying easily or excessively; "loose bowels" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
lax [lӕks] adjective
careless or not strict in discipline or morals
Example: Pupils have been rather lax about some of the school rules recently.
Arabic: غَيْر صارِم، مُتَراخٍ
Chinese (Simplified): 不严格的
Chinese (Traditional): 不嚴格的
Czech: nedbalý
Danish: slap
Dutch: laks
Estonian: lodev
Finnish: leväperäinen
French: relâché
German: lässig
Greek: χαλαρός (μτφ.), μη αυστηρός
Hungarian: laza
Icelandic: kærulaus; léttúðugur
Indonesian: lalai
Italian: lassista, negligente
Japanese: だらしのない
Korean: 조심성 없는, 단정치 못한
Latvian: paviršs; nevīžīgs; vaļīgs; izlaidīgs
Lithuanian: aplaidus, nerūpestingas, nepakankamai griežtas
Norwegian: slapp, løs
Polish: rozluźniony, niezdyscyplinowany
Portuguese (Brazil): descuidado
Portuguese (Portugal): relaxado
Romanian: ne­as­cul­tător; indisciplinat
Russian: небрежный; распущенный
Slovak: nedbanlivý, laxný
Slovenian: brezbrižen
Spanish: poco disciplinario, flojo
Swedish: slapp
Turkish: kayıtsız, umursamaz
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

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
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Lax

Lach"es\, Lache \Lache\, n. [OF. lachesse, fr. lache lax, indolent, F. l[^a]che, ultimately fr. L. laxus loose, lax. See Lax.] (Law) Neglect; negligence; remissness; neglect to do a thing at the proper time; delay to assert a claim.

It ill became him to take advantage of such a laches with the eagerness of a shrewd attorney. --Macaulay.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Lax

Lax\, a. [Compar. Laxer; superl. Laxest.] [L. laxus Cf. Laches, Languish, Lease, v. t., Leash.]

1. Not tense, firm, or rigid; loose; slack; as, a lax bandage; lax fiber.

The flesh of that sort of fish being lax and spongy. --Ray.

2. Not strict or stringent; not exact; loose; weak; vague; equivocal.

The discipline was lax. --Macaulay.

Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions. --J. A. Symonds.

The word "[ae]ternus" itself is sometimes of a lax signification. --Jortin.

3. Having a looseness of the bowels; diarrheal.

Syn: Loose; slack; vague; unconfined; unrestrained; dissolute; licentious.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
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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LAX

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