to slow down
893
1.4
- phrasal verb
- /sloʊ daʊn/
- If you slow down while driving in school zones, you can help keep children safe.
- slow down the pace
- slow down the rate
- slow down the speed
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Watch on YouTubeTake the off ramp, slow down, take a day off.
- Take the off ramp, slow down, take a day off.
- And I don't think anything slows down time quite like calmness.
- So when you have a mixed meal, that slows down absorption, digestion.
- So then they started hunting again to slow down the the attacks.
- Don't eat late at night if you can slow down the pace at which you're eating.
- And actually what I was doing was slowing down your healing process.
Examples
-
Tom needs to develop strategies to slow down and become more reflective.
Academic text (1993) -
Kennedy makes the final turn from Houston onto Elm, slowing down to some 11 miles per hour.
Fiction book (1991) -
These can help perhaps slow down the development of the disease.
-
Maybe we should just slow things down.
-
So then they started hunting again to slow down the the attacks.
-
And so to tune into the clouds is to slow down, to calm down.
-
A police car whizzes by, but we hear it slow down and pull over.
Fiction book (1991) -
Can you please slow down your speaking so everyone can understand?
-
After the long meeting, she decided to slow down her work pace to reduce stress.
Synonyms
∞
1.6
To make something smaller in amount, size, or number
∞
1.0
Make something move or happen at a lower speed
123
3.0
Make an amount or level lower
72
2.8
To make something smaller in amount or strength
59
3.7
To make something less strong or strict
44
2.7
To become less strong or loud over time
21
4.2
To become gradually less in size or amount
19
4.0
To become gradually less strong or severe
18
2.7
Move or make something move less quickly
17
4.1
Make something, like a taste, sound, or plan, less strong
14
8.4
To make something happen more slowly
13
4.1
To make a feeling, sound, or action less strong
13
4.3
To slow down an activity or stop it
10
5.5
To slow down
4
7.2
To make something less in small steps that are hard to bring back
4
4.9
Become or make slower, for example the wind
3
3.6
Begin to fall after rising or staying steady
3
4.3
Reduce something to a lower level, for example power or voltage
2
5.3
To reduce effort, speed or attention
1
5.7
Move, act, or work less quickly and with less energy
1
3.9
To become less strong or active
To make the music slower gradually
Antonyms
How Slow
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to reduce speed or activity' is directly and transparently derived from 'slow' (to reduce speed) combined with 'down' (indicating movement to a lower level or reduction in degree). This verb+particle composition is common in English and cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Slow down comes from a simple image: slow means to move less quickly and down means to make something lower. Imagine a driver pressing the brake to put the car's speed down, so it means 'to move or act more slowly'.