slacken

Last year — amid a stagnating economy and slackening labor market — it reached record highs.

It was only by goal number 10 that the pace slackened.

For Congress to even contemplate a slackening of the regulation that already exists is nothing short of absurd.

No breed stood out, and all were bested on the same tests by wolves and coyotes-perhaps, the study's authors say, because domestication slackened the evolutionary pressure for a sharp olfactory sense to find food.

Having a strong sense of smell can be metabolically costly, Bird notes, so it’s possible that domestication and reliance on humans for food slackened the evolutionary pressure to maintain such a sharp olfactory edge.