Definition of "slowdown" []

• The act or process of slowing down; a slackening of pace: a production slowdown. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The maker of industrial goods from controls to tools market cap $37 billion is a bellwether as the word slowdown creeps into parlance in unsettling ways, especially as politicos yammer about the U.S debt cap."
• "Well, I wouldn't use the word slowdown as much as I use the word caution."
• "Part of the slowdown is a result of investors reducing their target exposure to the asset class."