snail
Americannoun
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any mollusk of the class Gastropoda, having a spirally coiled shell and a ventral muscular foot on which it slowly glides about.
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a slow or lazy person; sluggard.
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Machinery. a cam having the form of a spiral.
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Midwestern and Western U.S. a sweet roll in spiral form, especially a cinnamon roll or piece of Danish pastry.
noun
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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 )
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any other gastropod with a spirally coiled shell, such as a whelk
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a slow-moving or lazy person or animal
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
L'Escargot Des Grands Crus in Bouzy, near Reims, said it had been robbed of its entire stock of fresh and frozen snails - a "real blow" ahead of the holiday season.
From BBC
Conservationists and citizen scientists have joined forces for a project to save London's "charming little" ice-age hairy snail.
From BBC
In London, meanwhile, scientists are trying to save German hairy snails.
From MarketWatch
There will be a paper trail, either email or snail mail.
From MarketWatch
The process happens at an incredibly slow rate -- roughly a millionth the speed of a snail.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
