8 July 2014
lax
[laks]
adjective, lax·er, lax·est.
1. not strict or severe; careless or negligent: lax morals; a lax attitude toward discipline.
2. loose or slack; not tense, rigid, or firm: a lax rope; a lax handshake.
3. not rigidly exact or precise; vague: lax ideas.
4. open, loose, or not retentive, as diarrheal bowels.
5. (of a person) having the bowels unusually loose or open.
6. open or not compact; having a loosely cohering structure; porous: lax tissue; lax texture.
7. Phonetics. (of a vowel) articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles. Compare tense1 (def 4) .
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin laxus loose, slack, wide; akin to languēre to languish; cognate with Old English slæc slack1
Related forms
lax·ly, adverb
lax·ness, noun
o·ver·lax, adjective
o·ver·lax·ly, adverb
o·ver·lax·ness, noun
Today’s aphorism
It’s so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.
– Nelson Mandela
On this day
8 July 1822 – death of Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet, considered to be one the finest lyric poets of all time. Born 4 August 1792.
8 July 1947 – reports are that a UFO crash-landed at Roswell, New Mexico.
8 July 1954 – Military leader, Castillo Armas seizes power of Guatamala in a CIA-backed coup, overthrowing Communist president Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. The coup was part of the CIA’s international anti-communist activities. On request of the CIA, Armas formed the National Committee of Defense Against Communism, which is recognised as Latin America’s first modern death squad, purging the government and trade unions of people with suspected left-wing tendencies. Armas introduced the ‘Preventive Penal Law Against Communism’ which increased penalties for ‘Communist’ activities, such as labor union activities. Armas was assassinated on 26 July 1957 by a palace guard, Romeo Vásquez. It is unknown what Vásquez’s motive was. He was found dead in a suspected suicide a short while later.
8 July 1980 – First State of Origin match played between New South Wales and Queensland at Lang Park (Suncorp Stadium), Brisbane. Queensland won 20-10.