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Slow

//slaː// adj, adv, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 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.

    "a slow train; a slow computer"

  2. 2
    Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.

    "Theſe changes in the Heav’ns, though ſlow, produc’d / Like change on Sea and Land, ſideral blaſt, / Vapour, and Miſt, and Exhalation hot, / Corrupt and Peſtilent: […]"

  3. 3
    Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend. derogatory, informal

    "Experienced classroom teachers are well acquainted with the attention-seeker, the shy girl, the aggressive boy, the poor concentrator, the slow student […]"

  4. 4
    Not hasty; not tending to hurry; acting with deliberation or caution.

    "He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding."

  5. 5
    Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.

    "That clock is slow."

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  1. 6
    Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
  2. 7
    Not busy; lacking activity.

    "It was a slow news day, so the editor asked us to make our articles wordier."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (of business) not active or brisk wordnet
  2. 2
    slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity wordnet
  3. 3
    not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time wordnet
  4. 4
    at a slow tempo wordnet
  5. 5
    (used of timepieces) indicating a time earlier than the correct time wordnet
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  1. 6
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Slowly.

    "That clock is running slow."

Adverb
  1. 1
    without speed (‘slow’ is sometimes used informally for ‘slowly’) wordnet
  2. 2
    showing a time that is earlier than the actual time wordnet
Noun
  1. 1
    Someone who is slow; a sluggard.
  2. 2
    A slow song.
Verb
  1. 1
    To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly; to reduce the speed of. transitive

    "slow the process"

  2. 2
    lose velocity; move more slowly wordnet
  3. 3
    To keep from going quickly; to hinder the progress of. transitive

    "slow the traffic"

  4. 4
    become slow or slower wordnet
  5. 5
    To become slow; to slacken in speed; to decelerate. intransitive

    "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."

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  1. 6
    cause to proceed more slowly wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiw, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleyH-u- (“bad”). Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), West Frisian sleau (“slow, dull, lazy”), 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”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiw, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleyH-u- (“bad”). Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), West Frisian sleau (“slow, dull, lazy”), 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”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiw, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleyH-u- (“bad”). Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), West Frisian sleau (“slow, dull, lazy”), 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”).

Etymology 4

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiw, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sleyH-u- (“bad”). Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), West Frisian sleau (“slow, dull, lazy”), 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”).

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