Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SLOV-EN, n. [D. slof, careless; sloffen, to neglect; W. yslabi, from yslab, extended; Ir. slapaire.]

A man careless of his dress, or negligent of cleanliness; a man habitually negligent of neatness and order. – Pope.

SLOV-EN-LI-NESS, n. [from sloven.]

1. Negligence of dress; habitual want of cleanliness. – Wotton.
2. Neglect of order and neatness.

SLOV-EN-LY, a.

1. Negligent of dress or neatness; as, slovenly man.
2. Loose; disorderly; not neat; as, a slovenly dress.

SLOV-EN-LY, adv.

In a careless, inelegant manner.

SLOV-EN-RY, n.

Negligence of order or neatness; dirtiness. [Not in use.] – Shak.

SLOW, a.¹ [Sax. slaw, for slag; Dan. slöv, dull, blunt; contracted from the root of slack, sluggard, lag.]

1. Moving a small distance in a long time; not swift; not quick in motion; not rapid; as, a slow stream; a slow motion.
2. Late; not happening in a short time. These changes in the heavens though slow, produc'd / Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast. – Milton.
3. Not ready; not prompt or quick; as, slow of speech, and slow of tongue. – Exod. iv.
4. Dull; inactive; tardy. The Trojans are not slow / To guard their shore from an expected foe. – Dryden.
5. Not hasty; not precipitate; acting with deliberation. The Lord is merciful, slow to anger. – Com. Prayer. He that is slow to wrath, is of great understanding. – Prov. xiv.
6. Dull; heavy in wit. – Pope.
7. Behind in time; indicating a time later than the true time; as, the clock or watch is slow.
8. Not advancing, growing or improving rapidly; as, the slow growth of arts and sciences.

SLOW, a.² [is used in composition to modify other words; as, a slow-paced horse.]

SLOW, n. [Sax. sliw.]

A moth. [Not in use.] – Chaucer.

SLOW, v. [as a verb, to delay, is not in use.]

– Shak.

SLOW-BACK, n.

A lubber; an idle fellow; a loiterer.

SLOW-LY, adv.

1. With moderate motion; not rapidly; not with velocity or celerity; as, to walk slowly.
2. Not soon; not early; not in a little time; not with hasty advance; as, a country that rises slowly into importance.
3. Not hastily; not rashly; not with precipitation; as, he determines slowly.
4. Not promptly; not readily; as, he learns slowly.
5. Tardily; with slow progress. The building proceeds slowly.

SLOW-NESS, n.

1. Moderate motion; want of speed or velocity. Swiftness and slowness are relative ideas. – Watts.
2. Tardy advance; moderate progression; as, the slowness of an operation; slowness of growth or improvement.
3. Dullness to admit conviction or affection; as, slowness of heart. – Bentley.
4. Want of readiness or promptness; dullness of intellect.
5. Deliberation; coolness; caution in deciding.
6. Dilatoriness; tardiness.

SLOW-SIGHT-ED, a.

Slow to discern. – More.

SLOW-WING-ED, a.

Flying slowly.

SLOW-WORM, or SLOE-WORM, n.

An insect found on the leaves of the sloe-tree, which often changes its skin and assumes different colors. It changes into a four-winged fly. – Dict. Nat. Hist.

SLOW-WORM, n. [Sax. slaw-wyrm.]

A kind of viper, the blind worm, scarcely venomous. – Johnson.

SLUB'BER, v.t.

To do lazily, imperfectly or coarsely; to daub; to stain; to cover carelessly. [Little used and vulgar.]

SLUB'BER-ING-LY, adv.

In a slovenly manner. [Not used and vulgar.] – Drayton.

SLUDGE, n. [D. slyk, Sax. slog, a slough.]

Mud; mire; soft mud. – Mortimer.

SLUDS, n.

Among miners, half-roasted ore.

SLUE, v.t.

In seamen's language, to turn any thing conical or cylindrical, &c. about its axis without removing it; to turn. – Mar. Dict.

SLU'ED, pp.

Turned about on its axis, without removing it.

SLUG, n. [allied to slack, sluggard; W. llag; D. slak, slek, a snail.]

1. A drone; a slow, heavy, lazy fellow. – Shak.
2. A hinderance; obstruction. – Bacon.
3. A kind of snail, very destructive to plants, of the genus Limax. It is without a shell.
4. [Qu. Sax. sloca, a mouthful; D. slok, a swallow; or Sax. slecg, a sledge.] A cylindrical or oval piece of metal, used for the charge of a gun. – Pope.

SLUG, v.i.

To move slowly; to lie idle. [Obs.] – Spenser.

SLUG, v.t.

To make sluggish. [Obs.] – Milton.