slow-walk

verb

ˈslō-ˌwȯk 

slow-walked; slow-walking; slow-walks

transitive verb

: to delay or prevent the progress of (something) by acting in a deliberately slow manner

They can still slow-walk the confirmation process, though, stretching out the Senate's consideration for each Cabinet-level pick for days, which collectively could strangle business in the chamber for months.

—Tamar Hallerman

The suit claims the university slow-walked a formal complaint filed last December, dragging out the internal investigation until some of the accused male swimmers graduated and could no longer be punished.

—Thomas J. Prohaska

slow-walking noun

The slow-walking of processing asylum claims, and the huge backlog of cases at ports of entry, are only adding to tensions in the region.

—Roberta Jacobson and Dan Restrepo

Examples of slow-walk in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In November 2020, Feeding Our Future sued the Minnesota Department of Education, alleging that the state was slow-walking its grant applications. —David Ingram, NBC news, 11 Jan. 2026

This led to months of legal bickering as Drake repeatedly accused DMACC of slow-walking the changes while DMACC and its associated foundation accused Drake of defamation. —William Morris, Des Moines Register, 8 Jan. 2026

The White House brushed back calls for Makary’s ouster and disputed that the safety review in question was being slow-walked. —Brett Samuels, The Hill, 9 Dec. 2025

The coaching staff eschewed a slow-walk start to his NHL season due to the veterans’ inability — including Trent Frederic and Mangiapane — to deliver on McDavid’s line. —Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for slow-walk

• alcock
• beanstalk
• bedrock
• boardwalk
• catwalk
• cornstalk
• crosswalk
• deadlock
• feedstock
• fetlock
• flintlock
• goshawk

Kids Definition

slow–walk

verb

: to delay or prevent the progress of (something) by acting in a deliberately slow manner