— laxly , adv. — laxness , n.
/laks/ , adj., laxer, laxest .
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. Phonet. (of a vowel) articulated with relatively relaxed tongue muscles. Cf. tense 1 (def. 4).
[ 1350-1400; ME laxus loose, slack, wide; akin to languere to LANGUISH; c. OE slaec SLACK 1 ]