Definition of "laxly"

The letters e, i, and y in unstressed syllables represent a very laxly articulated sound, for which the sign [i] is used in this book.

c. 1913, Walter Ripman, The Sounds of Spoken English: A Manual of Ear Training for English Students, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., p. 56

A current of passion, which seemed to come from far outside them, ran through them both, and her hand which had lain so laxly on his shoulder tightened, and he turned toward her.

1945, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 45, in Cass Timberlane: A Novel of Husbands and Wives‎

The oil families, whatever their original condition, were too grand. So they searched among the families in soft drinks, the families in ice, the transport families, the cinema families, the families in filling stations. And at last, in a laxly Presbyterian family with one filling station, two lorries, a cinema and some land, they found a girl.

1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Vintage International, published 2001, Part One, Chapter 5

Just which buildings survived was partly determined by which ones conformed to Taiwan’s sometimes laxly enforced construction codes.

1999 October 4, Jeffrey Kluger, “Tears and Trembling”, in Time