lax - Definitions from Dictionary.com

10 results for: lax

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

lax

–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

]

—Related forms

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

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

lax Audio Help (lāks) Pronunciation Key
adj. lax·er, lax·est

Lacking in rigor, strictness, or firmness. See Synonyms at negligent.
Not taut, firm, or compact; slack. See Synonyms at loose.
Loose and not easily retained or controlled. Used of bowel movements.
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.

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"

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

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)

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 - 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.