SLOW


Meaning of SLOW in English

I. ˈslō adjective

( -er/-est )

Etymology: Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English slāw, slǣw; akin to Old Saxon slēu blunt, dull, weak, slow, Old High German slēo blunt, dull, Old Norse sljōr, slær blunt, weak, Sanskrit srēvayati he causes to fail

1.

a. : not quick in apprehending or comprehending : mentally dull : stupid

a slow student

a slow mind

offers slow or retarded boys an adjusted program of education — advt

the slow learner, properly defined, is neither mentally nor emotionally retarded — Agnes Bass

b. : naturally inert or sluggish

a slow imagination

2.

a. : lacking in readiness, promptness, or willingness : manifesting dilatoriness or extreme deliberation — often used with in, of, to

they had been far too slow in giving the colonies their independence — Hugh Gaitskell

an unimaginative man, slow of comprehension — Times Literary Supplement

many industries … have been slow to develop the full value of research — Defense Against Recession

b. : not hasty or precipitate : not quickly aroused or excited

slow to speak ill of a person — F.E.Ross

a slow theater audience

3.

a. : moving, flowing, or proceeding without rapidity or at less than the usual speed

a slow stream

a slow train

the robin has been mentioned as a slow migrant — F.C.Lincoln

b. : exhibiting or characterized by retarded motion or speed

a slow advance

slow marching

slow music

a slow pace

slow progress

a slow pulse

a slow tempo

a slow walk

c. : not acute

a slow disease

d.

(1) : low , gentle

a slow fire

(2) : heated to a relatively low baking temperature — compare slow oven

4. : not happening in a short time : requiring a comparatively great length of time

a slow convalescence

a slow growth

a slow process

5.

a. : having qualities that hinder or prohibit rapidity of movement, play, or action

a slow track is one in which the drying-out process has progressed to the stage where the footing is soft — Dan Parker

her feet would sop in and out of the slow mire — Elizabeth M. Roberts

a slow putting green

b. of a wicket : in such condition that a bowled cricket ball does not rebound with speed and liveliness — contrasted with fast

c. : not operating, taking effect, or responding to treatment immediately or quickly

a slow filter

a slow influence

a slow poison

d. : contributing to a lengthening of exposure time — used of a photographic lens or material

e. : draining slowly : wet — used of paper pulp; compare free 20a

6.

a. : registering behind or below what is correct

a slow clock

a slow meter

slow scales

a slow taximeter

b. : that is less than the time indicated by another method of reckoning

standard time is an hour slower than daylight-saving time

c. : that is behind the time with regard to a specified time or place

local time (6 hrs. 36 min. 46.67 secs. slow on Greenwich mean time) — G.B. & Charlotte L. Dyer

Washington is several hours slow on London

7.

a. : lacking in life, animation, or gaiety : boring

somebody who's … so gay and daring that she'll think I'm slow — Sinclair Lewis

things were slow around Times Square — Herbert Mitgang

b. : slowgoing , unprogressive

a slow town

c. : marked by reduced sales or patronage : not brisk : slack

business here is a little slow in summer — W.L.Gresham

September is always a slow month — Mary Jane Rolfs

diamonds were particularly slow — Minerals Yrbk.

slow sales

8. : not steep : gradual

a slow taper

a slow spiral

party climbed the comparatively slow ascent — Frank Debenham

Synonyms:

slow , dilatory , laggard , deliberate , and leisurely can apply to persons who take a longer time than is necessary, or sometimes desirable, to perform action or an action. slow , wide in its range of application, can apply to anything that is the opposite of quick

a slow fuse

a slow walker

sometimes suggesting a more or less discreditable cause

a slow careless worker

slow wits

slow in getting results

or extreme care

slow craftsmanship, careful and particular

or a natural tempo

slow growth

a slow convalescence

or a falling behind because of defect or difficulty

a slow watch

a slow train, held up by a storm

dilatory implies slowness resulting from inertia, procrastination, or indifference

though dilatory in undertaking business, he was quick in its execution — Jane Austen

the trial must not be protracted in duration by anything that is obstructive or dilatory — R.H.Jackson

laggard , more censorious than dilatory , implies failure to do things on time or to observe a demand promptly, implying loitering or a wasting of time

in its coverage of spot news events, radio has been especially laggard — R.H.Rovere

a pupil laggard in getting assignments completed

her body slender and motionless for a moment as though waiting for some laggard part to catch up — William Faulkner

deliberate suggests absence of hurry or agitation, or a slowness that is the result of care or calculation

swung his axe steadily, with the deliberate measured strokes of a skilled woodsman — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall

proceeding in the most deliberate and orderly manner — T.S.Eliot

had been hurrying everyone since the first streak of light, suddenly became deliberate — Willa Cather

leisurely also implies lack of hurry but suggests rather no pressure of time

moving at a casual, almost leisurely pace — Time

the mild wind and the blue skies with the leisurely clouds tenting among them — J.H.Wheelwright

II. adverb

( -er/-est )

: slowly

how slow time goes — Shakespeare

I am going slow until I am really on my feet again — H.J.Laski

I would go pretty slow on that — F.D.Roosevelt

the engine is idling a trifle slow — Walt Waron

III. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

transitive verb

: to make slow : slacken the speed of : retard

investors were slowing the market — Time

the dirt track slowed his pace — Current Biography

— often used with up or down

a sudden storm will … only temporarily slow down the movement of a freight train — J.N.Efferson

reader is slowed up by a stream of long words — Milton Hall

intransitive verb

: to go slower : become slower

the river … slows on the flat bottom — Alexander Marshack

the production of such vehicles slowed a bit — A.F.Harlow

— often used with up or down

go all day at high speed, begin to slow up in the evening — R.S.Rubinow

his doctor told him to slow down — New York Times

Synonyms: see delay

IV. noun

( -s )

: one that is slow

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.