slow-walk

verb

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The decision was something of a setback for the attorneys representing jail detainees, who complained that county lawyers have deliberately slow-walked the case. Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2025 Along with filing a $20 billion lawsuit over routine business activities at 60 Minutes, Trump’s appointee to chair the FCC, Brendan Carr, has slow-walked the agency’s review of the merger. Dade Hayes, Deadline, 10 June 2025 Washington had blamed Beijing for slow-walking its pledge to approve the export of additional critical minerals to the U.S., while China criticized the U.S. decision to impose new restrictions on Chinese student visas and additional export restrictions on chips. Anniek Bao, CNBC, 9 June 2025 In the weeks since the fragile detente, Washington has accused Beijing of slow-walking approvals for rare earth exports and reneging on its promise made in Geneva, with Trump expressing increasing urgency to speak to his Chinese counterpart to iron things out. Nectar Gan, CNN Money, 7 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for slow-walk

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of slow-walk was in 1965

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Slow-walk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slow-walk. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

slow–walk

verb
: to delay or prevent the progress of (something) by acting in a deliberately slow manner
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!