“slow” – English explanatory dictionary

adj 1. needing a long time to do something ○ Luckily, the car was only going at a slow speed. ○ She is the slowest walker of the group. ○ The company is very slow at answering my letters. ○ Sales got off to a slow start but picked up later. 2. showing a time which is earlier than the right time ○ The office clock is four minutes slow. 3. not quick to learn ○ He’s the slowest in the class, so he gets extra tuition. □ to be slow on the uptake not to understand something quickly (informal.) ■ verb to go slowly ○ The procession slowed as it reached the cathedral. ■ adv not fast □ to go slow (of workers) to protest by working slowly or driving slowly ○ They are threatening to go slow if their demands are not met.

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

(slo), a. [Compar. Slower superl. Slowest.] [OE. slow, slaw, AS. slaw; akin to OS. sleu blunt, dull, D. sleeuw, slee, sour, OHG. sleo blunt, dull, Icel. slor, slaer, 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 (Zoöl.), 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.

adv. Slowly. “Let him have time to mark how slow time goes
In time of sorrow.” Shak.

v. 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.