Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: slaw


1 adjective
slow1 S2 W2 comparative slower, superlative slowest

not quick

not moving, being done, or happening quickly [≠ quick, fast; ↪ slowly]:
The car was travelling at a very slow speed.
a slow walker
The economy faces a year of slower growth.
Take a few deep, slow breaths.
We got on the slow train (=one that stops at a lot of places) by mistake.

taking too long

taking too long [≠ fast]:
Taylor was concerned at the slow progress of the investigations.
The legal system can be painfully slow (=much too slow).
slow to do something
The wound was slow to heal.

with delay

[not before noun] if you are slow to do something, you do not do it as soon as you can or should
slow to do something
Farmers have been slow to exploit this market.
Their attitude was slow to change.
slow in doing something
He has been slow in announcing the name of his successor.
New ideas have been slow in coming.

longer time

taking a longer time than something similar [≠ fast]:
the slow train (=one that stops at more stations)


if business or trade is slow, there are not many customers or not much is sold:
Business is often slow in the afternoon.
The company is experiencing slow sales.


[not before noun] if a clock or watch is slow, it is showing a time earlier than the correct time [≠ fast]
ten minutes/five minutes etc slow
The clock is about five minutes slow.

not clever

not good or quick at understanding things:
Teaching assistants have time to help the slower pupils.

slow on the uptake

not quick to understand something new:
Sometimes Tim's a little slow on the uptake.

slow off the mark

not quick enough at reacting to something

do a slow burn

American English informal to slowly get angry:
Tony fumbled the ball and I could see the coach doing a slow burn.

slow handclap

British English if a group of people give someone a slow handclap, they clap their hands slowly to show their disapproval

a slow oven

an oven that is at a low temperature


a slow film does not react to light very easily
slowness noun [uncountable]

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