▪ I. sleck
(small coal); var. slack n.2
▪ II. sleck, n. dial.
[Cf. MLG. and LG. slick, G. schlick, schlich.]
Soft mud; ooze.
It is very doubtful whether slec (v.r. slech) in Leg. Kath. 1662 can be regarded as an early example of this.
| 1840 Hodgson Hist. Northumb. III. ii. 319/2 The main sewer or drain..was about one-third filled up with that sort of ammoniacal sleck or sludge which comes from kitchens. 1894 Heslop Northumb. Gloss. 654 A slake is a large expanse of sleck. ‘Sludge’ is wet, muddy deposit, but not necessarily fine and smooth as sleck. |
▪ III. sleck, v.1 Now dial.
(slɛk)
Forms: 3 slecken(n, 5 sleckyn, 6 slecke, 5– sleck; 4 slekk-, 5 slekkyn, sclekke, 5–6 slek.
[The northern form repr. OE. sleccan (see sletch v.), f. slæc slack a. See also sleak v.1]
1. trans. To extinguish or quench (a fire); to allay, assuage (thirst, etc.).
| c 1200 Ormin 5689 All hiss hunngerr & hiss þrisst Shall ben þurrh Drihhtin sleckedd. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1230 Ð e water sleckede ðe childes list. a 1400 Hylton Scala Perf. iii. xiii. (W. de W. 1494), The preest..shall put vnder styckes, so that it be not sleckyd. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 12667 Troyle bad faste the fir be bet, But Thelamon bad his men hit slek With water of broke or of bek. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §169 As water slecketh fyer, soo dothe almesdede slake synne. 1530 Palsgr. 720/2 Whan you slecke a hoote fyre with water, it maketh a noyse lyke thunder. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 43 To Sleck,..to quench or put out the fire, v.g., or one's thirst. 1781– in northern dialect glossaries. |
| fig. c 1200 Ormin 10124 Forr allmess dedess hafenn mahht To sleckenn þine sinness. a 1400 Hylton Scala Perf. i. lxix. (W. de W. 1494), That the grounde of synne myghte..somwhat be slecket in the. 1435 Misyn Fire of Love 118 All temptacion þou sall ouercum, & all malesse slek. |
† 2. To alleviate, moderate. Obs. rare.
| 13.. St. Erkenwolde 331 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 273 Þe fyrst slent þat on me slode slekkyd al my tene. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 5489 Ector sorow myght no man sclekke. |
3. To cool by means of water, etc.
| c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 6 Tak a gad of stele..; And in goode wyne sleck hit I say. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Sleck, to cool in water. a 1900 in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., The blacksmith is slecking a piece of iron. |
4. To slack or slake (lime).
| 1530 Palsgr. 720/2, I slecke lyme, I put water to it, je destayns. 1548 in E. Green Somerset Chantries (1888) 75 The churche yarde..wherin lyme is slecked. 1617 Shuttleworth's Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 219 Sleckinge and spreadinge six score lode of lyme, ijs vj{supd}. 1849– in Eng. Dial. Dict. |
Hence slecked ppl. a., ˈslecking vbl. n.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 459/1 Slekkynge, or qwenchynge, extinctio. a 1533 Ld. Berners Golden Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) H vj b, The morter..ought not to be medled with sande and slecked lyme. 1572 L. Mascall Plant. & Graff. 41 Ye must meddle it well also with..slekt Sope ashes about the roote. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Fusé, Chaux fusée, slaked, or sleckt lime. 1675 Phil. Trans. X. 447 The consistence of slecked lime. |
▪ IV. † sleck, v.2 Obs. rare.
[var. of sleek v.]
trans. To make smooth.
| 1530 Palsgr. 720/2, I slecke, I make paper smothe with a sleke stone, je fais glissant. You muste slecke your paper if you wyll write Greke well. |