Slow down!

Slow

Slow is the opposite of "fast" or "quick": you can drive in the fast lane or in the slow lane and you can get a fast train or a slow train. You may be a slow reader or a slow learner - if so, you will make slow progress when learning something.

If we say someone is (a bit) slow, it means they don't understand things quickly:

• Sorry to be so slow, but I still don't understand what the aim of this project is.

When someone is slow to understand things, you can say that they are slow on the uptake:

• He's a bit slow on the uptake. I had to explain to him three times how to download a file.

If a film or a book is slow-moving, nothing much happens for a long time:

• It's a very slow-moving film. I fell asleep halfway through.

If something happens so slowly that you find it annoying, you can say it's painfully slow:

• She does everything painfully slowly. It takes her over an hour just to get dressed!
• I don't know if the building will ever be finished. They're making painfully slow progress at the moment.

Slow down!

If you are in a car or on foot, you can slow down:

• I think we should slow down, so the others can catch up with us.

If you think someone is moving or doing things too fast, you can say: Slow down!, There's no hurry or Take your time:

• Slow down! You're driving much too fast.
• There's no hurry. The party doesn't start till nine, so we can take our time getting ready.