fleet vs slack

fleet

noun
  • An arm of the sea; a run of water, such as an inlet or a creek. 

  • A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc. 

  • Any command of vessels exceeding a squadron in size, or a rear admiral's command, composed of five sail-of-the-line, with any number of smaller vessels. 

  • A location, as on a navigable river, where barges are secured. 

  • A large, coordinated group of people. 

  • Any group of associated items. 

  • A group of vessels or vehicles. 

adj
  • Swift in motion; light and quick in going from place to place. 

  • Light; superficially thin; not penetrating deep, as soil. 

verb
  • To flee, to escape, to speed away. 

  • To pass over rapidly; to skim the surface of. 

  • To cause to slip down the barrel of a capstan or windlass, as a rope or chain. 

  • To hasten over; to cause to pass away lightly, or in mirth and joy. 

  • To move up a rope, so as to haul to more advantage; especially to draw apart the blocks of a tackle. 

  • To move or change in position. 

  • To take the cream from; to skim. 

  • To evanesce, disappear, die out. 

slack

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

  • 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. 

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

  • Small coal; coal dust. 

  • A valley, or small, shallow dell. 

adv
  • Slackly. 

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. 

verb
  • To slacken. 

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

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