slow down

1. 1.

   lose velocity; move more slowly

   “The car decelerated”

   Synonymsdecelerateslowslow upretard

   Broaderdecrease

   Narrowerslowdelay
2. 2.

   become slow or slower

   “Production slowed”

   Synonymsslowslow upslackslacken

   Broaderweaken
3. 3.

   cause to proceed more slowly

   “The illness slowed him down”

   Synonymsslowslow up

   Broaderdecelerate

   Narrowerbog downclog
4. 4.

   reduce the speed of

   “He slowed down the car”

   Synonymsdecelerate

   Broaderchange

   Narrowermoderateretardfishtail
5. 5.

   become less tense, rest, or take one's ease

   “He relaxed in the hot tub”

   “Let's all relax after a hard day's work”

   Synonymsrelaxloosen upunbendunwinddecompress

   Broaderchange state

   Narrowervege outsit back

Questions about slow down

What does slow down mean?

slow down means "lose velocity; move more slowly". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for slow down?

Close synonyms include decelerate, slow, slow up, retard, slow. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is slow down a common word?

slow down is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.