snail

American  

[sneyl] / sneɪl /

noun

1. any mollusk of the class Gastropoda, having a spirally coiled shell and a ventral muscular foot on which it slowly glides about.

2. a slow or lazy person; sluggard.

3. Machinery. a cam having the form of a spiral.

4. Midwestern and Western U.S. a sweet roll in spiral form, especially a cinnamon roll or piece of Danish pastry.

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snail British  

/ sneɪl /

noun

1. any of numerous terrestrial or freshwater gastropod molluscs with a spirally coiled shell, esp any of the family Helicidae, such as Helix aspersa ( garden snail )

2. any other gastropod with a spirally coiled shell, such as a whelk

3. a slow-moving or lazy person or animal

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Other Word Forms

• snail-like adjective
• snaillike adjective

Etymology

Origin of snail

before 900; Middle English snail, snayl ( e ), Old English snegel; cognate with Low German snagel, German (dial.) Schnegel

Example Sentences

"If there were two snails going up a wall, he'd be betting on his one going up first," his grandmother Muriel told Ski Sunday.

From BBC

I’m not confident in her ability to sing French songs about snails.

From Literature

They moved along at a snail's pace, the mud dragging at their boots.

From Literature

There are close-ups of hands kneading dough, a snail sliming its way up a window and Cathy prodding a jellied fish with her finger.

From Los Angeles Times

After all, the moorhen ate other creatures too, like fish, snails, insects, without worrying what she was doing to them and their young.

From Literature

Related Words

• clam
• conch
• crawfish
• crustacean
• lobster
• mollusk
• mussel
• oyster
• prawn
• scallop
• shrimp