crease in tension or velocity; as, "Slack the laniard of our
main-stay;" or "The tide slackens."

SLACK HELM. If the ship is too much by the stern, she will carry her
helm too much _a-lee_.

SLACK IN STAYS. Slow in going about. Also applied to a lazy man.

SLACK OFF, OR SLACKEN! The order to ease away the rope or tackle by
which anything is held fast; as, "Slack up the hawser."

SLACK WATER. The interval between the flux and reflux of the tide, as
between the last of the ebb and first of the flood, or _vice versa_,
during which the water remains apparently quiescent.

SLADE [the Anglo-Saxon _slaed_]. A valley or open tract of country.

SLAKE. An accumulation of mud or ooze in the bed of a river.

SLANT OF WIND. An air of which advantage may be taken.

SLANT TACK. That which is most favourable to the course when working to
windward.

SLAVER. A vessel employed in the odious slave-trade.

SLED. The rough kind of sleigh in North America, used for carrying
produce, too heavy for amusement.

SLEE. A sort of cradle placed under a ship's bottom in Holland, for
drawing her up for repairs.

SLEECH. A word on our southern coasts for mud or sea-sand used in
agriculture.

SLEEP. A sail sleeps when, steadily filled with wind, it bellies to the
breeze.

SLEEPERS. Timbers lying fore and aft in the bottom of the ship, now
generally applied to the knees which connect the transoms to the after
timbers on the ship's quarter. They are particularly used in Greenland
ships, to strengthen the bows and stern-frame, to enable them to resist
the shocks of the ice. Also, any wooden beams used as supports. Also,
ground tier casks.

SLEEVE. The word formerly used to denote the narrows of a channel, and
particularly applied to the Strait of Dover, still called _La Manche_ by
the French. When Napoleon was threatening to invade England, he was
represented trying to get into a coat, but one of the sleeves utterly
baffled him, whence the point: "_Il ne peut pas passer La Manche._"

SLEEVE-FISH. A name for the calamary, _Loligo vulgaris_, an animal
allied to the cuttle-fish.

SLICE. A bar of iron with a flat, sharp, spear-shaped end, used in
stripping off sheathing, ceiling, and the like. The _whaler's slice_ is
a slender chisel about four inches wide, used to cut into, and flinch
the fish.

SLICES. Tapering wedges of plank used to drive under the false keel, and
between the bilge-ways, preparatory to launching a vessel.

SLICK. S