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

These are the people who actively disengage from responsibilities, assuming others will pick up the slack. —Mark Travers, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2025

At an ambitious 95 minutes, Ghost Boy tends to lag in places, but both director and narrator are aware of their story’s potential to get stuck in a groove, and both are there to pick up the slack whenever it’s needed. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 8 Mar. 2025

If the goal is to get Europe to pick up the slack, then why are so many MAGA social-media influencers mocking Europe for stepping to the plate? —The Editorial Board, Orange County Register, 5 Mar. 2025

When these pathways fail, there aren’t enough to take up the slack, and then those pathways fail as well, resulting in a complete ecological collapse. —Ollie Barder, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025