slow march
1
4.9
- noun
- Formal
:
marcha lenta
- For just that moment, before he continued his slow march out to the shed in back, the buzz of cicadas rising in the early morning air, I thought of the three of us sharing the same view of the trees lining the back of our property: I from the upstairs window, my brother from the screen door beneath me, and my father silent and hesitating in front of us.
- make the slow march
Examples
-
Lee looked to the water again, the slow march of the troops.
Fiction book (2000) -
When the anthem ended, the Air Force pipers began a slow march past the gravesite as they played 'Mist Covered Mountain.'
-
With respect, sir, I just see the slow march.
Blog text (28) -
As Isaac carried the Torah in a slow march through the congregation, some of the little old men reached up to touch the scroll with the hems of their prayer shawls and suddenly backed away as though seeing a Cossack on horseback.
Fiction book (1997) -
The tuxedoed groom stands at the altar, beaming as his bride begins her slow march down the aisle.
-
Abraham Lincoln's body also made the slow march to the Capitol, with many of the same martial details and flourishes that accompanied Reagan's procession.
Synonyms
69
1.8
A steady walk by a group often during a protest or parade
54
4.1
A line of people or vehicles moving slowly in a ceremony
Antonyms
- UK
1
5.1
A marching pace faster than walking and slower than running at about 120 steps per minute
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun meaning 'a walk or procession carried out at a deliberately slow pace' is directly composed from 'slow' (low speed) + 'march' (a walk or procession), so the overall sense is a literal modification of the noun by the adjective. This simple adjective + noun construction follows common English and cross-linguistic patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Slow march comes from the picture of soldiers or mourners walking step by step to slow music. The words slow and march show people moving slowly in a formal line, so it means 'a deliberate, ceremonial walk'.