dictionary definitions for "slow"


From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Slow \Slow\ (sl[=o]), obs. imp. of Slee, to slay.
     Slew. --Chaucer.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Slow \Slow\ (sl[=o]), a. [Compar. Slower (sl[=o]"[~e]r);
     superl. Slowest.] [OE. slow, slaw, AS. sl[=a]w; akin to OS.
     sl[=e]u blunt, dull, D. sleeuw, slee, sour, OHG. sl[=e]o
     blunt, dull, Icel. sl[=o]r, sl[ae]r, Dan. sl["o]v, Sw.
     sl["o]. 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.
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     2. Not happening in a short time; gradual; late.
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              These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced
              Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.
                                                    --Milton.
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     3. Not ready; not prompt or quick; dilatory; sluggish; as,
        slow of speech, and slow of tongue.
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              Fixed on defense, the Trojans are not slow
              To guard their shore from an expected foe. --Dryden.
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     4. Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation;
        tardy; inactive.
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              He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.
                                                    --Prov. xiv.
                                                    29.
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     5. Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true
        time; as, the clock or watch is slow.
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     6. Not advancing or improving rapidly; as, the slow growth of
        arts and sciences.
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     7. Heavy in wit; not alert, prompt, or spirited; wearisome;
        dull. [Colloq.] --Dickens. Thackeray.
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     Note: 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.
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     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.
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     Syn: Dilatory; late; lingering; tardy; sluggish; dull;
          inactive.
  
     Usage: 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.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Slow \Slow\, adv.
     Slowly.
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           Let him have time to mark how slow time goes
           In time of sorrow.                       --Shak.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Slow \Slow\, 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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Slow \Slow\, v. i.
     To go slower; -- often with up; as, the train slowed up
     before crossing the bridge.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Slow \Slow\, n.
     A moth. [Obs.] --Rom. of R.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:

  slow
      adv 1: without speed (`slow' is sometimes used informally for
             `slowly'); "he spoke slowly"; "go easy here--the road is
             slippery"; "glaciers move tardily"; "please go slow so I
             can see the sights" [syn: slowly, slow, easy,
             tardily] [ant: apace, chop-chop, quickly,
             rapidly, speedily]
      2: of timepieces; "the clock is almost an hour slow"; "my watch
         is running behind" [syn: behind, slow]
      adj 1: not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time; "a
             slow walker"; "the slow lane of traffic"; "her steps were
             slow"; "he was slow in reacting to the news"; "slow but
             steady growth" [ant: fast]
      2: at a slow tempo; "the band played a slow waltz" [ant: fast]
      3: slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so
         dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met
         anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning,
         at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb
         officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either
         normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with
         the slow students" [syn: dense, dim, dull, dumb,
         obtuse, slow]
      4: (used of timepieces) indicating a time earlier than the
         correct time; "the clock is slow" [ant: fast]
      5: so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a
         boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the deadening
         effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play"; "his competent
         but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture
         their attention"; "what an irksome task the writing of long
         letters is"- Edmund Burke; "tedious days on the train"; "the
         tiresome chirping of a cricket"- Mark Twain; "other people's
         dreams are dreadfully wearisome" [syn: boring, deadening,
         dull, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome,
         wearisome]
      6: (of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or
         slow)"; "a sluggish market" [syn: dull, slow, sluggish]
      v 1: lose velocity; move more slowly; "The car decelerated"
           [syn: decelerate, slow, slow down, slow up,
           retard] [ant: accelerate, quicken, speed, {speed
           up}]
      2: become slow or slower; "Production slowed" [syn: slow,
         slow down, slow up, slack, slacken]
      3: cause to proceed more slowly; "The illness slowed him down"
         [syn: slow, slow down, slow up]


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