slow down

slow down (third-person singular simple present slows down, present participle slowing down, simple past and past participle slowed down)

1. (intransitive) To decelerate.

   When approaching a bend in the road, slow down, and speed up after leaving it.

   • 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 7:

     When the long, hot journey drew to its end and the train slowed down for the last time, there was a stir in Jessamy’s carriage.

   • 2021 October 6, Greg Morse, “A need for speed and the drive for 125”, in RAIL, number 941, page 48:

     Then came the war... and everything slowed down.

2. (transitive) To reduce the velocity, speed, or tempo of something.

   With a comfortable lead, the football team slowed down the tempo of the game.

   • 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):

     A “moving platform” scheme […] is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. […] This set-up solves several problems […]. Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside?

   • 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 52:

     The elimination of vacuum-braked wagons would be slowed down, and the Western Region's flirtation with diesel-hydraulic locomotives was questioned.

3. (transitive, intransitive, figuratively) To become less intense, enthusiastic, etc., usually with a positive connotation, implying that one is stripped of exaggerated or unnecessary eagerness.

   Whoa, slow down there, bucko. Everyone will get a chance. Be patient.

• slow up
• decelerate

• speed up
• accelerate

• lowdowns