blank vs slack

blank

noun
  • An empty form without substance; anything insignificant; nothing at all . 

  • Infertile semen. 

  • A vacant space, place, or period; a void [since the 17th century]. 

  • A dash written in place of an omitted letter or word 

  • Blank verse . 

  • Provisional words printed in italics (instead of blank spaces) in a bill before Parliament, being matters of practical detail, of which the final form will be settled in Committee . 

  • A domino without points on one or both of its divisions. 

  • A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated [since the 16th century]. 

  • A space to be filled in on a form or template. 

  • A document, paper, or form with spaces left blank to be filled up at the pleasure of the person to whom it is given (e.g. a blank charter, ballot, form, contract, etc.), or as the event may determine; a blank form . 

  • The white spot in the centre of a target; hence (figuratively) the object to which anything is directed or aimed, the range of such aim . 

  • An unprinted leaf of a book [20th century]. 

  • The ¹ / ₂₃₀₄₀₀ of a grain [17th century]. 

  • Any article of glass on which subsequent processing is required [since the 19th century]. 

  • An empty space in one's memory; a forgotten item or memory [since the 18th century]. 

  • The shaved wax ready for placing on a recording machine for making wax records with a stylus [20th century]. 

  • The space character; the character resulting from pressing the space-bar on a keyboard. 

  • A sample for a control experiment that does not contain any of the analyte of interest, in order to deliberately produce a non-detection to verify that a detection is distinguishable from it. 

verb
  • To make void; to erase. 

  • To ignore (a person) deliberately. 

  • To prevent from scoring; for example, in a sporting event. 

  • To become blank. 

  • To be temporarily unable to remember. 

  • To render ineffective by blanketing with turbulent airflow, such as from aircraft wake or reverse thrust. 

adj
  • Lacking characteristics which give variety; uniform. 

  • Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in 

  • Utterly confounded or discomfited. 

  • Empty; void; without result; fruitless. 

  • Absolute; downright; sheer. 

  • Devoid of thoughts, memory, or inspiration. 

  • Of ammunition: having propellant but no bullets; unbulleted. 

  • Without expression, usually due to incomprehension. 

slack

noun
  • The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it. 

  • Unconditional listening attention given by client to patient. 

  • A temporary speed restriction where track maintenance or engineering work is being carried out at a particular place. 

  • A tidal marsh or shallow that periodically fills and drains. 

  • Small coal; coal dust. 

  • A valley, or small, shallow dell. 

adj
  • Moderately warm. 

  • Vulgar; sexually explicit, especially in dancehall music. 

  • Not active or busy, successful, or violent. 

  • Excess; surplus to requirements. 

  • Lax; not tense; not firmly extended. 

  • Lacking diligence or care; not earnest or eager. 

  • Lax. 

  • Moderate in speed. 

  • Weak; not holding fast. 

adv
  • Slackly. 

verb
  • To slacken. 

  • To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake. 

How often have the words blank and slack occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )