Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - slow lane

(slow lanes) 1. On a motorway or freeway, the slow lane is the lane for vehicles which are moving more slowly than the other vehicles. N-COUNT: usu sing, usu the N 2. If you say that a person, country, or company is in the slow lane, you mean that they are not progressing as fast as other people, countries, or companies in a particular area of activity. Germany was not trying to push Britain into the slow lane... N-SING: usu the N