pick/take up the slack
idiom
: to provide or do something that is missing or not getting done
The manager has to take up the slack when employees don't do their jobs correctly.
When he didn't get the pay raise he was expecting, he had to take another job to pick up the slack for more money.
Examples of pick/take up the slack in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
All over the country, local news has gone dark as newspapers fold and contract and digital news sites struggle to pick up the slack.
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Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 July 2025
Without in-home help, and sometimes even with it, family caregivers − frequently mothers − often pick up the slack, switching jobs or leaving their careers behind to care for their kids with special needs.
—Kayla Jimenez, USA Today, 19 July 2025
That’s why California policymakers are increasingly counting on battery storage, which emits no carbon dioxide, to pick up the slack.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 July 2025
The offense, slow to pick up the slack these last three weeks, is finally showing up, as well.
—Tim Britton, New York Times, 5 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pick/take up the slack
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Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 July 2025
Without in-home help, and sometimes even with it, family caregivers − frequently mothers − often pick up the slack, switching jobs or leaving their careers behind to care for their kids with special needs.
—Kayla Jimenez, USA Today, 19 July 2025
That’s why California policymakers are increasingly counting on battery storage, which emits no carbon dioxide, to pick up the slack.
—Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 July 2025
The offense, slow to pick up the slack these last three weeks, is finally showing up, as well.
—Tim Britton, New York Times, 5 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for pick/take up the slack
Cite this Entry
“Pick/take up the slack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pick%2Ftake%20up%20the%20slack. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
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