slow

adj

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.

   “a slow train; a slow computer”

   “Turkey should always be cooked in a slow oven.”

   “Holding out her small olive hand before her captain, she said in mild and slowest Spanish, "Senor, I buried him;" then paused, struggled as against the writhed coilings of a snake, and cringing suddenly, leaped up, repeating in impassioned pain, "I buried him, my life, my soul!"”

   “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.”

2. Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.

   “Theſe changes in the Heav’ns, though ſlow, produc’d / Like change on Sea and Land, ſideral blaſt, / Vapour, and Miſt, and Exhalation hot, / Corrupt and Peſtilent: […]”

   “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.”

   “As of the current patch, Luke’s crouching Medium Punch has been nerfed. It will now have a larger hurtbox, in addition to having a slower recovery when the attack misses.”

3. (derogatory, informal)Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.

   “Experienced classroom teachers are well acquainted with the attention-seeker, the shy girl, the aggressive boy, the poor concentrator, the slow student,[…]”

   “Hey, don't yell at Homer, just because he's a little slow.”

4. Not hasty; not tending to hurry; acting with deliberation or caution.

   “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.”

   “And even after the emotional cast comes off, we need to be slow about getting deeply involved in a relationship again.”

5. Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.

   “That clock is slow.”

6. Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
7. 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

1. (transitive)To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly; to reduce the speed of.

   “slow the process”

2. (transitive)To keep from going quickly; to hinder the progress of.

   “slow the traffic”

3. (intransitive)To become slow; to slacken in speed; to decelerate.

   “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.”

   “As he passed though the station, he slowed to yell to the signalman, Frank 'Sailor' Bridges: "Sailor - have you anything between here and Fordham? Where's the mail?" Gimbert knew the mail train was due, and he didn't want to endanger another train with his burning bomb wagon.”

noun

1. Someone who is slow; a sluggard.
2. A slow song.

adv

1. Slowly.

   “That clock is running slow.”

   “I want to dance with you nice and slow.”

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