Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not moving or able to move quickly; proceeding at a low speed.
  • adjective Marked by a retarded tempo.
  • adjective Taking or requiring a long time.
  • adjective Taking more time than is usual.
  • adjective Allowing movement or action only at a low speed.
  • adjective Registering a time or rate behind or below the correct one.
  • adjective Lacking in promptness or willingness; not precipitate.
  • adjective Characterized by a low volume of sales or transactions.
  • adjective Lacking liveliness or interest; boring.
  • adjective Not having or exhibiting intellectual or mental quickness.
  • adjective Only moderately warm; low.
  • adverb So as to fall behind the correct time or rate.
  • adverb At a low speed.
  • intransitive verb To make slow or slower.
  • intransitive verb To delay; retard.
  • intransitive verb To become slow or slower.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In zoöl, a sluggish or slow-paced skink, as the slow-worm or blindworm, Anguis fragilis; also, a newt or eft of like character.
  • Slowly.
  • noun A Middle English spelling of slough.
  • noun A Middle English preterit of slay.
  • Taking a long time to move or go a short distance; not quick in motion; not rapid: as, a slow train; a slow messenger.
  • Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time; gradual: as, a slow change; the slow growth of arts.
  • Not ready; not prompt or quick; used absolutely, not quick to comprehend; dull-witted.
  • Tardy; dilatory; sluggish; slothful.
  • Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation.
  • Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time: as, the clock or watch is slow.
  • Dull; lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness: used of persons or things: as, the entertainment was very slow.
  • Synonyms Delaying, lingering, deliberate.
  • 3 and
  • Heavy, inert, lumpish.
  • 1–4. Slow, Tardy, Dilatory. Slow and tardy represent either a fact in external events or an element of character; dilatory only the latter. Dilatory expresses that disposition or habit by which one is once or generally slow to go about what ought to be done. See idle.
  • noun A sluggard.
  • To become slow; slacken in speed.
  • To make slow; delay; retard.
  • To slacken in speed: as, to slow a locomotive or a steamer: usually with up or down.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To go slower; -- often with up.
  • adverb Slowly.
  • noun obsolete A moth.
  • imperative Slew.
  • transitive verb To render slow; to slacken the speed of; to retard; to delay.
  • adjective Moving a short space in a relatively long time; not swift; not quick in motion; not rapid; moderate; deliberate.
  • adjective Not happening in a short time; gradual; late.
  • adjective Not ready; not prompt or quick; dilatory; sluggish.
  • adjective Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation; tardy; inactive.
  • adjective Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.
  • adjective Not advancing or improving rapidly.
  • adjective colloq. Heavy in wit; not alert, prompt, or spirited; wearisome; dull.
  • adjective [Colloq.] a slow person. See def.7, above.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English slāw.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English slāw. Cognate with Swedish slö.

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