online medical dictionary | definition of lax

LAnguage eXample.

A toy language used to illustrate compiler design.

["Compiler Construction", W.M. Waite et al, Springer 1984].

(01 Mar 1994)

1. Not tense, firm, or rigid; loose; slack; as, a lax bandage; lax fibre. "The flesh of that sort of fish being lax and spongy." (Ray)

2. Not strict or stringent; not exact; loose; weak; vague; equivocal. "The discipline was lax." (Macaulay) "Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions." (J. A. Symonds) "The word "aeternus" itself is sometimes of a lax signification." (Jortin)

3. Having a looseness of the bowels; diarrhoeal.

Synonyms: Loose, slack, vague, unconfined, unrestrained, dissolute, licentious.

Origin: L. Laxus Cf. Laches, Languish, Lease, Leash.

(01 Mar 1998)