Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Slow

Slow

(slō)
,
obs.
imp.
of
Slee
, to slay.
Slew.
Chaucer.

Slow

(slō)
,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Slower
(slō′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Slowest
.]
[OE.
slow
,
slaw
, AS.
slāw
; akin to OS.
slēu
blunt, dull, D.
sleeuw
,
slee
, sour, OHG.
slēo
blunt, dull, Icel.
slōr
,
slær
, Dan.
slöv
, Sw.
slö
. Cf.
Sloe
, and
Sloth
.]
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.
Slow coach
,
a slow person. See def.7, above.
[Colloq.]
–
Slow lemur
, or
Slow loris
(Zool.)
,
an East Indian nocturnal lemurine animal (
Nycticebus tardigradus
) about the size of a small cat; – so called from its slow and deliberate movements. It has very large round eyes and is without a tail. Called also
bashful Billy
.
–
Slow match
.
See under
Match
.
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

,
adv.
Slowly.
Let him have time to mark how
slow
time goes
In time of sorrow.
Shakespeare

Slow

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Slowed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Slowing
.]
To render slow; to slacken the speed of; to retard; to delay;
as, to
slow
a steamer
.
Shak.

Slow

,
Verb.
I.
To go slower; – often with up;
as, the train
slowed
up before crossing the bridge
.

Slow

,
Noun.
A moth.
[Obs.]
Rom. of R.

Webster 1828 Edition

Slow

SLOW

,
Adj.
1.
Moving a small distance in a long time; not swift; not quick in motion; not rapid; as a slow stream; a slow motion.
2.
Late; not happening in short time. These changes in the heavens though slow, produc'd like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.
3.
Not ready; not prompt or quick; as slow of speech, and slow of tongue. Ex. 4.
4.
Dull; in active; tardy. The Trojans are not slow to guard their shore from an expected foe.
5.
Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation. The Lord is merciful, slow to anger. He that is slow the wrath is of great understanding. Prov. 14.
6.
Dull; heavy in wit.
7.
Behind in time; indicating a time later than the true time; as, the clock or watch is slow.
8.Not advancing, growing or improving rapidly; as the slow growth of arts and sciences.

Definition 2024

slow

slow

See also: slow.

English

Adjective

slow ‎(comparative slower, superlative slowest)

  1. Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.
    • 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.
    a slow train;  a slow computer‎
  2. Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.
    • John Milton
      These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced / Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.
    • 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200:
      Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.
  3. Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.
    • 1960, Dissertation Abstracts (volume 20, page 4007)
      Experienced classroom teachers are well acquainted with the attention-seeker, the shy girl, the aggressive boy, the poor concentrator, the slow student […]
  4. Not hasty; not precipitate; lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation.
    • The Bible, Prov. xiv. 29
      He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.
  5. (of a clock or the like) Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.
    That clock is slow.‎
  6. Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
  7. (of a period of time) Not busy; lacking activity.
    It was a slow news day, so the editor asked us to make our articles wordier.‎
    I'm just sitting here with a desk of cards, enjoying a slow afternoon.‎

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

slow ‎(third-person singular simple present slows, present participle slowing, simple past and past participle slowed)

  1. (transitive) To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly; to reduce the speed of.
  2. (transitive) To keep from going quickly; to hinder the progress of.
  3. (intransitive) To become slow; to slacken in speed; to decelerate.
    • 2012 November 18, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time:
      After about a minute, the creek bed vomited the debris into a gently sloped meadow. Saugstad felt the snow slow and tried to keep her hands in front of her.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

slow ‎(plural slows)

  1. Someone who is slow; a sluggard.
  2. (music) A slow song.

Adverb

slow ‎(comparative slower, superlative slowest)

  1. Slowly.
    That clock is running slow.
    • Shakespeare
      Let him have time to mark how slow time goes / In time of sorrow.

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From English

Noun

slow m ‎(plural slows)

  1. slow waltz

See also

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [slow]

Noun

slow

  1. genitive of slě

Etymology

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw ‎(“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz ‎(“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- ‎(“limp”). Cognate with Scots slaw ‎(“slow”), Dutch sleeuw ‎(“blunt, dull”), Low German slee ‎(“dull, sluggish”), German schlehe, schleh ‎(“dull, exhausted, faint”), Danish sløv ‎(“dull, torpid, drowsy”), Swedish slö ‎(“slack, lazy”), Icelandic sljór ‎(“dim-witted, slow”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /sləʊ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /sloʊ/
  • Rhymes: -əʊ

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