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Phrase(s): take the slack up
1. Lit. to tighten a rope that is holding something loosely. • Take the slack up if you can. • This clothesline is too loose. Do something to take up the slack. 2. Fig. to do what needs to be done; to do what has been left undone. • Do I have to take the slack up? • Jill did her job poorly and I have to take up the slack.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs