slow

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/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -əʊ

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.

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, 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.

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

• Lows, OWLs, lows, owls, sowl

Etymology

From English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slo/

Noun

slow m (plural slows)

1. slow waltz

Further reading

• “slow” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [slow]

Noun

slow

1. genitive of slě