idiom · neutral
pick up the slack
/pɪk ʌp ðə slæk/pick·UP·the·SLACK
to do work that someone else has not done or not done well; to make up for a shortfall
Examples
“When John was off sick, Maria picked up the slack so the project stayed on schedule.”
“Managers sometimes have to pick up the slack when staff are underperforming.”
“Volunteers picked up the slack after the event organisers cancelled.”
Band 8 sentence
“With two team members on leave, the senior staff had to pick up the slack to meet the deadline.”
Collocations
- pick up the slack when someone is absent
- pick up the slack for underperforming staff
- pick up the slack in + project/process
Word family
Common mistakes
She picked up slack while he was away.→She picked up the slack while he was away.
They pick up slack of the team.→They pick up the slack for the team.
Say it for a higher band
5do extra work→6cover someone’s work→7+pick up the slack
Synonyms
make up for shortcomings
Easily confused
cover for
“She covered for her colleague while he was on leave.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Work
Learn it with its set