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

Furthermore, in April of this year, the New York Times reported that the process of appointing new trustees for the Smithsonian Institution had been slow-walked due to Trump’s efforts to intervene. — News Desk, Artforum, 30 July 2026

Also hurting our credibility is our slow-walking deliveries of weapons from previous arms sales agreements. — Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

In 2024, Newsom threatened to sue Half Moon Bay after accusing local officials of slow-walking the project. — Ethan Varian, Mercury News, 27 July 2026

Back then, the speaker’s office slow-walked the case after the woman reported the harassment allegations to the speaker’s then-chief of staff in April 2023, the Tribune found. — Chicago Tribune, 17 July 2026

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