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Skype /ska I p/ (Skypes , Skyping , Skyped ) N‑UNCOUNT Skype is a computer program that you can use to make voice calls or video calls on the internet. [TRADEMARK ] □  Catch up with your American cousins or chat to your friend on her travels around India, on Skype. ● VERB Skype is also a verb. □ [V n] I Skyped Emma while she was in LA. □ [V with ] My parents and I Skype with my sister, who is living in the UK. □ [V ] Since then we've Skyped and emailed loads.

sky|rocket /ska I rɒk I t/ (skyrockets , skyrocketing , skyrocketed ) VERB If prices or amounts skyrocket , they suddenly increase by a very large amount. □ [V ] Production has dropped while prices and unemployment have skyrocketed. □ [V -ing] …the skyrocketing costs of health care.

sky|scraper /ska I skre I pə ^r / (skyscrapers ) N‑COUNT A skyscraper is a very tall building in a city.

sky|ward /ska I wə ^r d/ also skywards ADV [ADV after v] If you look skyward or skywards , you look up towards the sky. [LITERARY ] □  He pointed skywards.

slab /slæ b/ (slabs ) N‑COUNT A slab of something is a thick, flat piece of it. □ [+ of ] …slabs of stone. □  …huge concrete paving slabs.

slack /slæ k/ (slacker , slackest , slacks , slacking , slacked )

1 ADJ Something that is slack is loose and not firmly stretched or tightly in position. □  The boy's jaw went slack.

2 ADJ A slack period is one in which there is not much work or activity. □  The workload can be evened out, instead of the shop having busy times and slack periods.

3 ADJ Someone who is slack in their work does not do it properly. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  Many publishers have simply become far too slack. ●  slack|ness N‑UNCOUNT □  He accused the government of slackness and complacency.

4 VERB [only cont] If someone is slacking , they are not working as hard as they should. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V ] He had never let a foreman see him slacking. ● PHRASAL VERB Slack off means the same as slack . □ [V P ] If someone slacks off, Bill comes down hard.

5 PHRASE To take up the slack or pick up the slack means to do or provide something that another person or organization is no longer doing or providing. □  As major airlines give up less-traveled routes, smaller planes are picking up the slack.

slack|en /slæ kən/ (slackens , slackening , slackened )

1 VERB If something slackens or if you slacken it, it becomes slower, less active, or less intense. □ [V ] Inflationary pressures continued to slacken last month. □ [V n] The Conservative government will not slacken the pace of radical reform. ●  slack|en|ing N‑SING □ [+ of ] There was a slackening of western output during the 1930s.

2 VERB If your grip or a part of your body slackens or if you slacken your grip, it becomes looser or more relaxed. □ [V ] Her grip slackened on Arnold's arm. [Also V n]

▸  slacken off PHRASAL VERB [no passive] If something slackens off , it becomes slower, less active, or less intense. [mainly BRIT ] □ [V P ] At about five o'clock, business slackened off.

slack|er /slæ kə ^r / (slackers ) N‑COUNT If you describe someone as a slacker , you mean that they are lazy and do less work than they should. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  He's not a slacker; he's the best worker they've got.

sla ck-jawed ADJ If you say that someone is slack-jawed , you mean that their mouth is hanging open, often because they are surprised. □  He just gazed at me slack-jawed.