slovenous 
slovenoust, <'. [< slomi 1 + -..] Dirty; scurvy. 
How Poor Robin served one of his companions & sloven- 
out trick. The Merry Exploits of Poor Robin. (Nares.) 
slovenry (>-luv'u-ri), . [<*7re 1 + -n/.] Neg- 
lect of order, neatness, or cleanliness ; untidi- 
ness ; slovenliness. 
Slouenrie, sordities. Levins, Manip. Vocab., col. 10(i. 
Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd, . . . 
And time hath worn us into sloaenry. 
Shak., Hen. V., iv. 3. 114. 
Never did Slovenry more misbecome 
Nor more confute its nasty self than here. 
J. Beauinotit, Psyche, I. 162. 
slovenwood (sluv'n-wud), . [A perversion of 
xiiiitln'rincood.] The southernwood, Artcmixin 
.Ilirotantiiii. [Prov. Eng.] 
slow 1 (slo), a. and n. [Sc. slate; < ME. slowe, 
t/loir, slovh, nloiKjhf, sclowli, slawe, slaw, slau, < 
AS. slaw, slow, = OS. sleu = MD. sleew, slee, D. 
gleeuw = MLG. sle, LG. sloe = OHG. sleo, slew, 
MHG. sle, G. dial, schlew, schlech, schlo Icel. 
sljor = Sw. slo = Dan. sloi', blunt, dull. There 
is a vague resemblance and common suggestion 
in the series slip 1 , slide, slink 1 , slouch, slut/ 1 , etc. , 
to which sloir 1 may be added. Hence sloth 1 . Cf. 
sloe.'] I. . 1. Taking a long time to move or 
go a short distance; not quick in motion; not 
rapid : as, a slow train ; a slow messenger. 
Saturn e is sloughe and litille mevynge ; for he taryethe, 
to make his turn be the 12 Signes, 30 Zeer. 
MandemUe, Travels, p. 162. 
Me thou think'st not stow, 
Who since the morning-hour set out from heaven 
Where God resides, and ere mid-day arrived 
In Eden. Maton, P. L., viii. 110. 
For here forlorn and lost I tread, 
With fainting steps and slow. 
Goldsmith, The Hermit. 
Pursued the swallow o'er the meads 
With scarce a slower flight. 
Coifper, Dog and Water-Lily. 
2. Not happening in a short time ; spread over 
a comparatively longtime ; gradual : as, a slow 
change; the slow growth of arts. 
These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced 
Like change on sea and land. 'Milton, r. L., x. 692. 
Wisdom there, and truth, 
Not shy, as in the world, and to be won 
By slow solicitation. Cowper, Task, vi. 116. 
I wonder'd at the bounteous hours, 
The slow result of winter showers. 
Tennyson, Two Voices. 
3. Not ready; not prompt or quick; used ab- 
solutely, not quick to comprehend ; dull-witted. 
I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. Ex. iv. 10. 
fools, and slow of heart to believe. Luke xxiv. 25. 
Give it me, for I am slow of study. 
Shale., M. N. D., i. 2. 69. 
Things that are, are not, 
As the mind answers to them, or the heart 
Is prompt, or slow, to feel. 
Wordsworth, Prelude, vii. 
Slow as James was, he could not but see that this was 
mere trifling. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. 
4. Tardy ; dilatory ; sluggish ; slothful. 
Yuel seruaunt and slowe, wistist thou that I repe wher I 
sewe nat? Wyclif, Mat. xxv. 26. 
The fated sky 
Gives us free scope, only doth backward pull 
Our daw designs when we ourselves are dull. 
Shak., All's Well, i. 1. 234. 
The Trojans are not slow 
To guard their shore from an expected foe. 
Dryden. 
5. Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with 
deliberation. 
Thou art a God . . . slow to anger, and of great kindness. 
Neh. ix. 17. 
He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. 
Prov. xiv. 29. 
6. Behind in time ; indicating a time earlier 
than the true time: as, the clock or watch is 
slow. 7. Dull; lacking spirit; deficient in live- 
liness or briskness : used of persons or things : 
as, the entertainment was very slow. [Colloq.] 
Major Pendennis . . . found the party was what you 
young fellows call very dwc. Thackeray, Newcomes, xlix. 
The girls I love now vote me slow 
How dull the boys who once seem'd witty ! 
Perhaps I'm growing old, I know 
I'm still romantic, more 's the pity. 
F. Locker, Reply to a Letter. 
Slow coach, a person who is slow or lumbering in move- 
ment; one who is deficient in quickness, smartness, or 
energy ; a dawdler ; hence, one who is mentally sluggish ; 
onewhoisnot progressive. [Colloq. ] 
1 daresay the girl you are sending will be very useful to 
us; our present one is a very slow coach. 
E. B. Ramsay, Scottish Life and Character, p. 114 
Slow lemur, slow lemuroid, a lemur or lenmroid quad- 
ruped of the subfamily yycticebinjp, of which there are 
four genera, two Asiatic, Nycticebus and Loris, and two 
5705 
African, Arctocebus and ferodicticus (see these technical 
words, and antjuuntibo, potto) ; specifically, the slow loris. 
SlOW loris, a slow lemur, the slow-paced lemur. Syc- 
ticebwt tardi<iradu, or Loris utenops, also called Benyal 
and Ceylon xluttt. It is scarcely as large as a sloth, is IHM-- 
turnal and arboreal, and very slow and sedate in its move- 
ments. It sleeps during the day clinging to the branch 
of a tree, and by night prowls about after its prey, which 
consists of small birds and quadrupeds, eggs, and insects, 
'['he name slow loris was given in antithesis to slender 
loris, when both these animals were placed in the same ge- 
nus Lori*. See Nycticebus. SlOW movement, in music, 
that movement of a sonata or symphony which is in slow 
tempo, usually adagio, andante, or largo. It ordinarily 
follows the first movement, and precedes the minuet or 
scherzo. Slow music, soft and mournful music slowly 
played by an orchestra to accompany a pathetic scene : 
as, the heroine dies to slow music. Slow nervous fever. 
See /!. =Syn. 1. Delaying, lingering, deliberate. 3 
and 4. Heavy, inert, lumpish. 1-4. Slow, Tardy, Dila- 
tory. Slow and tardy represent either a fact in external 
events or an element of character ; dilatory oidy the latter. 
Dilatory expresses that disposition or habit by which one 
is once or generally slow to go about what ought to be 
done. See idle. 
Il.t H. A sluggard. 
Lothe to bedde and lothe fro bedde, men schalle know 
the slow. MS. Douce, 52. (Halliwell.) 
slow 1 (slo), nilr. [< slair 1 , a.~\ Slowly. [Poeti- 
cal or colloq.] 
How slow 
This old moon wanes ! 
Shak., M. N. D., i. 1. 3. 
Slow rises worth by poverty depress'd. 
Johnson, London, 1. 177. 
slow 1 (slo), r. [< ME. "xloweii, < AS. sldwiaii 
(= OHG. sliiwen, MHG. slewen = Dan. slave), be 
slow, < slaw, slow: see slow 1 , a.] I. intrans. 
To become slow ; slacken in speed. 
The pulse quickens at first, then slows. 
Pop. Set. Mo., XXXI. 773. 
The boat sloived in to the pier. 
W. Black, In Far Lochaber, xiii. 
II. trans. 1. To make slow; delay; retard. 
Par. Now do you know the reason of this haste. 
Fri. I would I knew not why it should be slow'd. 
Shak.,H. and J., iv. 1.16. 
Though the age 
And death of Terah slow'd his pilgrimage. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Vocation. 
2. To slacken in speed : as, to slow a locomo- 
tive or a steamer: usually with up or down. 
When ascending rivers where the turns are short, the 
engine should be slowed down. Luce, Seamanship, p. 554. 
slow'-'t, n. A Middle English spelling of slough 1 . 
slow 3 (slo), n. [An abbreviated form of slow- 
worm, q. v.] In sool., a sluggish or slow-paced 
skink, as the slow-worm or blindworm, Anguis 
frayilis; also, a newt or eft of like character. 
slow*t. A Middle English preterit of slay 1 . 
slowback (slo'bak), ti. [< slow 1 + back 1 .] A 
lubber ; an idle fellow ; a loiterer. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
The sloifbacks and lazie bones will none of this. 
J. Favour, Antiquity's Triumph over Novelty (1619), 
[p. 63. (Latham.) 
Slow-gaited (slo 'ga* ted), a. Slow in gait; 
moving slowly ; slow-paced; tardigrade. 
The ass . . . is very slow-yaited. Shak., L. L. L., iil. 1. 56. 
She went ... to call the cattle home to be milked, and 
sauntered back behind the patient slow-gaited creatures. 
Mrs. Qaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, ix. 
slowht. A Middle English preterit of slay 1 . 
slow-hound (slo'hound), w. [A var. of sleuth- 
hound, slothound, prob. in conformity to stoic*.] 
A sleuth-hound. 
Once decided on his course, Hiram pursued his object 
with the tenacity of a slow-hound. 
B. B. Kimball, Was he Successful? p. 310. 
slowing (slo'ing), n. [Verbal n. of slow 1 , r.] 
A lessening of speed ; gradually retarded move- 
ment; retardation. 
She delivered a broadside and, without slowing, ran into 
the Cumberland's port-bow. 
New York Tribune, March 12, 1862. 
The pulse showed Blowings after the exhibition of ergo- 
tin. Nature, XXX. 212. 
slowlyt (slo'li), a. [< slow 1 + -ly 1 .] Slow. 
With slowly steps these couple walk'd. 
Birth of RoUn Hood (Child's Ballads, V. 393). 
slowly (slo'li), adv. [< ME. slawliche, slowly, 
slauli ; < slow 1 + -ly 2 .] In a slow manner ; not 
quickly or hastily ; deliberately ; tardily ; not 
rashly or with precipitation. 
Love that conies too late. 
Like a remorseful pardon slowly carried. 
Shak., All's Well, v. 8. 58. 
A land of just and old renown, 
Where freedom slowly broadens down 
From precedent to precedent. 
Tennyson, You ask me why, tho' ill at ease. 
slow-match (slo'mach), n. A match so com- 
posed as to burn very slowly and at a regular 
slubber 
fixed rate : it is generally prepared by soaking 
or boiling rope or cord of some sort in a solu- 
tion of saltpeter. 
slowness (slo'nes), . [< ME. slownes, slaw- 
HI-.W; < .v/oii'i + -<*.] The state or character 
of being slow, in any sense. 
slow-paced (slo'past), . Moving or advancing 
slowly; slow-gaited; tardigrade: specifically 
said of the slow lemur. 
Thou great Wrong, that, through the sloie-paced years, 
Didst hold thy millions fettered. 
Bryant, Death of 
slows (sloz), n. [Appar. pi. of slow 1 : used to 
describe a torpid condition.] Milk-sickness. 
slow-sighted (slo'si'ted), . Slow to discern. 
slow-sure (slo'shor), . Slow and sure. [Poeti- 
cal and rare.] 
Slow-sure Britain's secular might. 
Emerson, Monadnoc. 
slow-up (slo'up), ii. The act of slackening 
speed. [Colloq.] 
Slow-winged (slo'wingd), <t. Flying slowly. 
O slow-u-ing'd turtle ! shall a buzzard take thee? 
Shak., T. of the S., ii. 1. 208. 
slow-witted (slo'wif'ed), a. Mentally slug- 
gish ; dull. 
The description of the Emperour, viz. ... for qualitie 
simple and siowe-witted. 
Protest of Merchants Tradiny to Muscovy (Ellis's Lit. 
[Letters, p. 79). 
slow-Worm (slo'werm), . [Also sloe-worm (sim- 
ulating sloe, ' ' because it vseth to creepe and live 
on sloe-trees," Minsheu) ; < ME. sloworme, slo- 
wurm, slowurme, slaworme, < AS. sldwyrm, sld- 
werm (not "sldw-wyrme, as in Somner, or "slaw- 
wyrni, as in Lye), a slow-worm (glossing L. rega- 
ins stellio and spalangius), = Sw. (transposed) 
orm-sl& = Norw. orm-slo, a slow- worm ; prob. < 
*sla, contr. of *slaha, lit. 'smiter' (= Sw. sld = 
Norw. slo, a slow-worm) (< slcdn = Sw. slA = 
Norw. slaa, strike) + wyrm, worm: see slay 1 and 
worm. The word has been confused in popular 
etym. with slow 1 , as if < slow 1 + worm; hence 
the false AS. forms above mentioned, and the 
present spelling.] A scincoid lizard of the fam- 
ily Anguidse: same as blindworm. Also sloic. 
See cut under Anguis. 
The pretty little slow-worms that are not only harmless, 
but seem to respond to gentle and kindly treatment. 
A. Jessopp, Arcady, ii. 
sloyd, n. See sloid. 
slub 1 (slub), n. [C f. slab' 2 , slob 2 .'] Loose mud; 
mire. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
slub 2 (slub), n. [Also slobber, slubbing; origin 
uncertain; cf. slubber 2 .] Wool slightly twisted 
preparatory to spinning, usually that which has 
been carded. 
slub' 2 (slub), v. t. ; pret. and pp. slubbed, ppr. 
slubbing. [< slub 2 , n.] To twist slightly after 
carding, so as to prepare for spinning: said of 
woolen yarn. 
slubber 1 (slub'er), f. [Al&oslobber; < ME. slob- 
eren, < D. slobberen, lap, sup up, = MLG. slub- 
beren, LG. slubbern, lap, sip, = G. (dial.) schlub- 
bern = Dan . slubbre, slobber, = Sw. dial, slubbra, 
be disorderly, slubber, slobber; freq. of a verb 
seen in Sw. dial, slubba, mix up liquids in a 
slovenly way, be careless. Cf. slobber 1 , slab- 
ber 1 , slop 1 .] I. trans. 1. To daub; stain; sully; 
soil; obscure. 
You must therefore be content to slubber the gloss of 
your new fortunes with this more stubborn and boisterous 
expedition. Shak., Othello, i. 3. 227. 
Pompey I overthrew ; what did that get me? 
The slubber'd name of an authoriz'd enemy. 
Fletcher (and another), False One, ii. 3. 
2. To do in a slovenly, careless manner, or 
with unbecoming haste ; slur over. [Rare.] 
Slubber not business for my sake. 
Shak., M. of V., ii. 8. 39. 
If a marriage should be thus slubbered up in a play, ere 
almost any body had taken notice you were in love, the 
spectators would take it to be but ridiculous. 
Beau, and /'/., Captain, v. 6. 
II. intrans. To act or proceed in a slovenly, 
careless, or hurried manner. [Rare.] 
Which answers also are to be done, not in a huddling 
or slubbering fashion gaping or scratching the head, or 
spitting, even in the midst of their answer but gently 
and plausibly, thinking what they say. 
0. Herbert, Country Parson, vi. 
slubber 1 (slub'er), w. [< slubber 1 , r.] Any vis- 
cous substance. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
slubber 2 (slub'er), (i. t. [Cf. slub 2 .] To dress 
(wool). Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
slubber 2 (slub'er), M. [Also slobber; cf. sluli- 
ber 3 .] Half-twined or ill-twined woolen thread. 
.lainiesoil. 
