slow Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb lose velocity; move more slowly
    decelerate; slow down; retard; slow up.
    • The car decelerated
  2. verb become slow or slower
    slacken; slow down; slack; slow up.
    • Production slowed
  3. verb cause to proceed more slowly
    slow down; slow up.
    • The illness slowed him down
  4. adjective not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
    • a slow walker
    • the slow lane of traffic
    • her steps were slow
    • he was slow in reacting to the news
    • slow but steady growth
  5. adjective at a slow tempo
    • the band played a slow waltz
  6. adjective satellite slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
    dim; dense; dumb; obtuse; dull.
    • so dense he never understands anything I say to him
    • never met anyone quite so dim
    • although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray
    • dumb officials make some really dumb decisions
    • he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse
    • worked with the slow students
  7. adjective (used of timepieces) indicating a time earlier than the correct time
    • the clock is slow
  8. adjective satellite so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    tedious; ho-hum; boring; wearisome; deadening; tiresome; dull; irksome.
    • a boring evening with uninteresting people
    • the deadening effect of some routine tasks
    • a dull play
    • his competent but dull performance
    • a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention
    • what an irksome task the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke
    • tedious days on the train
    • the tiresome chirping of a cricket"- Mark Twain
    • other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome
  9. adjective satellite (of business) not active or brisk
    sluggish; dull.
    • business is dull (or slow)
    • a sluggish market
  10. adverb without speed (`slow' is sometimes used informally for `slowly')
    tardily; slowly; easy.
    • he spoke slowly
    • go easy here--the road is slippery
    • glaciers move tardily
    • please go slow so I can see the sights
  11. adverb of timepieces
    behind.
    • the clock is almost an hour slow
    • my watch is running behind

WordNet

Slow
Definitions
obs.
  1. imp. of Slee, to slay. Slew. Chaucer.
Slow adjective
Etymology
OE. slow, slaw, AS. slaw; akin to OS. slu blunt, dull, D. sleeuw, slee, sour, OHG. slo blunt, dull, Icel. slr, slr, Dan. slöv, Sw. slö. Cf. Sloe, and Sloth.
Wordforms
comparative Slower ; superlative Slowest
Definitions
  1. Moving a short space in a relatively long time; not swift; not quick in motion; not rapid; moderate; deliberate; as, a slow stream; a slow motion.
  2. Not happening in a short time; gradual; late.
    These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast. Milton.
  3. Not ready; not prompt or quick; dilatory; sluggish; as, slow of speech, and slow of tongue.
    Fixed on defense, the Trojans are not slow To guard their shore from an expected foe. Dryden.
  4. Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation; tardy; inactive.
    He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. Prov. xiv. 29.
  5. Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time; as, the clock or watch is slow.
  6. Not advancing or improving rapidly; as, the slow growth of arts and sciences.
  7. Heavy in wit; not alert, prompt, or spirited; wearisome; dull. Colloq. Dickens. Thackeray. ✍ Slow is often used in the formation of compounds for the most part self-explaining; as, slow-gaited, slow-paced, slow-sighted, slow-winged, and the like. Syn. -- Dilatory; late; lingering; tardy; sluggish; dull; inactive. -- Slow, Tardy, Dilatory. Slow is the wider term, denoting either a want of rapid motion or inertness of intellect. Dilatory signifies a proneness to defer, a habit of delaying the performance of what we know must be done. Tardy denotes the habit of being behind hand; as, tardy in making up one's acounts.
Slow adverb
Definitions
  1. Slowly.
    Let him have time to mark how slow time goes In time of sorrow. Shak.
Slow transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Slowed ; present participle & verbal noun Slowing
Definitions
  1. To render slow; to slacken the speed of; to retard; to delay; as, to slow a steamer. Shak.
Slow intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To go slower; -- often with up; as, the train slowed up before crossing the bridge. also with down.
Slow noun
Definitions
  1. A moth. Obs. Rom. of R.

Webster 1913