Slow

Slow, adv. Slowly.

Let him have time to mark how slow time goes
In time of sorrow.

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

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.

Slow, n. A moth. [Obs.] Rom. of R.

Slow (slō), a. [Compar. Slower (?); superl. Slowest.] [OE. slow, slaw, AS. slāw; akin to OS. slēu blunt, dull, D. sleeuw, slee, sour, OHG. slēo blunt, dull, Icel. slōr, slær, 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.

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.

4. Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation; tardy; inactive.

He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.

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.

Slow, v. i. To go slower; -- often with up; as, the train slowed up before crossing the bridge.