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. Milton.
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. Dryden.
4. Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation; tardy; inactive.
He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. Prov. xiv. 29.
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. 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. — Slow lemur, orSlow 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.